Moving Forward
by Username-not-taken
Summary: Harmony and Nellie Berry are living normal lives in New York, or as normal as possible, considering that their mother is a famous singer and actor. However, the girls soon find their lives completely changing as something disastrous happens to Rachel. One-sided Faberry, Harmony/Damian, Glee/The Glee Project.
1. Chapter 1

"Where is she?" Harmony huffed, a frustrated frown finding its way onto her face. She and her younger sister, Nellie, had been waiting outside their local high school for an hour and a half.

"Has she forgotten to pick us up, again?" Nellie questioned her older sister, grimacing slightly.

"Of course not!" Harmony stated, determination shining in her eyes. "Mum probably just got held late at work. You know how hard she practises, and how brilliant she is! She probably has some slow director, or she could have been held up by a fan?"

Nellie sighed at her older sister, knowing that the endless reasons probably weren't true; she _wanted_ to believe her sister, but her instincts were telling her that Rachel had forgot about them. As endless minutes continued to pass, Nellie felt herself beginning to fiddle with her fingers.

As the young teen glanced at her sister, she saw her enthusiastically flipping open her phone, only to be disappointed as she saw that their mum still hadn't texted. Nellie couldn't help but shake her head at her sibling; she knew that the elder girl was getting her hopes up over nothing every time she checked for a new message.

Nellie felt her grimace deepen. "Mum knows that she picks us up from school on the third every month! Why isn't she here?"

"She'll be here soon." Harmony weakly reassured her sister. "I'll try calling her again! I'm sure she'll pick up this time."

Harmony rapidly dialled her Mum's familiar number for the fifth time that hour, but instead of going to voicemail, an unfamiliar voice answered.

"Are you related to Rachel Berry?" The voice on the phone gruffly asked.

"Yes, I'm her daughter." Harmony immediately answered, worry seeping into her tone. "What is going on, Sir?"

Rachel had taught Harmony to always be formal with strangers, and the young brunette was determined to follow in her Mother's footsteps, and perform on Broadway; due to this ambition, Harmony almost always did what her mother told her.

"Is your Father there, sweetheart?" The mysterious man asked, his voice suddenly softening.

"No, my sister and I are standing outside our school, waiting for Rachel to pick us up. Why do you have her phone, Sir?" Harmony asked, biting her lip gently.

"There has been an accident. I'm not sure if I can release the details. Can you tell me the number of your Father?" Harmony noted that more and more sadness was seeping into this man's tone; the brunette could tell that he was trying to hide it, and sound formal, but his attempts were less than successful.

"An accident?" Harmony stuttered, her eyes widening as she gasped slightly. "Is she alright?"

Nellie gave her sister a look of alarm and fear as soon as she heard the word 'accident'. Harmony gently pulled her younger sister into a reassuring hug, trying to hide the fact that she was also terrified that their Mum was in some sort of danger.

As soon as Harmony realised that the man on the phone wasn't going to reply to her question, she recited Finn's number. The mysterious man had asked her to repeat it once more, before promptly hanging up, not even bothering to say 'goodbye'.

"Is our Mum going to be alright?" Nellie quietly asked as tears of fear formed in her eyes.

"I think so, I'm sure it's nothing." Harmony immediately comforted her younger sister, while simultaneously trying to reassure herself. "We better go take the bus home."

The brunette then grabbed her younger sister's hand, and after giving it a gentle squeeze, she led them to the bus stop. Nellie was surprised at this; Harmony had stopped the whole hand-holding thing when Nellie was nine. The young teen presumed that the elder girl was feeling overly protective currently, as Rachel _could_ be severely injured.

After a minute of silence at the bus stop, the vehicle arrived and the two brunettes got in. Harmony quickly went and swiped their bus passes, half-heartily throwing Nellie's at her as they went to sit down.

Harmony could tell that Nellie was worried about their Mum; she was too, especially since Harmony and her father, Finn, had never really gotten along that well. The older brunette knew that he was her father, and that she should love him, but she had just never felt that close to him. Harmony could tell from a young age that Finn was holding her mother back.

One day, when Harmony was seven she had told him that, and they had shared their first fight. Quickly, it had begun escalating; they began fights over the stupidest things, although the issues they debated weren't stupid to Harmony. The girl hated that Finn would never buy the vegan equivalents of products; although Rachel pretended not to care, Harmony knew that Finn's actions frustrated her.

Harmony also felt that he was living off Rachel's success. Finn didn't even have a job; although he had the nerve to claim that he was a stay-at-Home-dad. He didn't clean though, and rarely cooked, and when he did, it was usually just a vegetable-less, fatty burger, which Harmony hated.

The man also claimed that he had raised his two daughters himself, but Harmony knew that this was far from the truth; Rachel had pretty much raised Harmony alone, while Finn was constantly off watching sport at his high school friend's house. Rachel was the one who had taught young Harmony right from wrong, and helped her strive to be the best.

When Harmony was ten, and Nellie was eight, Rachel had gotten a full time job. Harmony couldn't remember what it had been, as Rachel had done many musicals since then, but their mother's work had caused her to become very busy. Often, she would leave before the sister's woke up and come home after they'd fallen asleep. Young Harmony had hated that their mother was constantly working.

The sudden absence of their mother had forced Harmony to raise her younger sister, Nellie. Although Harmony was only two years older, she had tried to teach the younger girl everything that Rachel had taught her. She would always help Nellie with her homework when she needed it, as well as walk Nellie over to the younger girl's friends' houses.

Nellie was a lot less confident than Harmony; the older brunette had always made sure to support her sibling, unlike Finn. Harmony was practically fuming the day that her Father had told Nellie that she wasn't as good a singer as the rest of the family, or the time he had told her that Volleyball was a stupid sport and that she shouldn't play it. Eventually, with Harmony's reassurance, Nellie had regained the confidence to do these things, but the girl was still quite hesitant.

Due to Rachel's busy schedule, the bond between these two sisters was extremely strong; although both of them loved spending time with their mother as well; especially Harmony, who had the stronger attachment with their Mother. The girl loved how ambition her mother was; Harmony thought her Mum was the best singer in the world, the best actor too.

At a young age Rachel had told Harmony about her time at NYADA; that was what inspired the girl to attempt to get in there. Harmony had visited NYADA many times with her mother, as Rachel had had a temporary job there. The brunette was only 6 years old then, but she had loved everything about the school. There were a lot of pretty singers and dancers who thought Harmony was the cutest little thing, and always enthusiastically applauded whenever the little girl sung.

Despite not being as close to their mother, Nellie loved her too. Just like her older sister, Rachel was very supportive of every decision Nellie made. The woman was there for her whenever anyone bullied her, and as much as the teen loved Harmony, she knew that her older sister would do something overly dramatic, like get her boyfriend to 'rough them up'.

Nellie also loved that her Mum always used to sing her to sleep. Nellie was quite young then, so she didn't remember many of the songs, but she loved the way that her Mum's voice soothed her into dreamland every single night. The girl still remembered how disappointed she was when Rachel stopped this; when the woman decided that Nellie was too old to be sung to sleep.

Unlike Harmony, Nellie had an okay relationship with their Father, but it could be quite awkward. Sometimes Nellie felt that he didn't love her very much, especially when he didn't come to their school's play. Harmony had even gotten the lead role, while Nellie had gotten a speaking part. Nellie still recalled how loudly Harmony squealed when she had heard that her younger sister got a role; Nellie knew that Harmony was probably more excited about it than she was.

Nellie jumped slightly as the bus suddenly pulled up to their stop, roughly jerking her forward. Harmony and Nellie quickly rushed out, slowly walking the two blocks necessary for them to get home. As Nellie opened the gate that led to their house, Harmony noticed that Finn's car was missing.

"They must have contacted him," Harmony mumbled to herself. "That or he's playing video games with Puck again."

As the two entered the house, Harmony headed to the kitchen. The brunette slowly began putting away the ingredients which she had taken out before school. Usually, on the days that their Mum picked them up, they would bake vegan muffins, or a nice big cake. It had even become a tradition that they made stars out of icing on each cupcake, since, according to their mother, it represented the three of them being stars.

Once Harmony had finally finished putting the ingredients away in the various cupboards, she walked up the stairs, and into her room. She rapidly grabbed her iPod and pressed shuffle. Harmony frowned; putting away the ingredients had been a good distraction from thinking about that Man on the phone, but worry was beginning to flood her mind once again.

"Maybe someone posted something on the internet?" Harmony muttered under her breath as she started up her laptop.

She swiftly typed her password and logged in, smiling gently at the picture on her desktop; a photo of herself, her Mum and Nellie standing in front of the Eiffel tower. She quickly clicked on the internet and typed 'Rachel Berry' into the news section of Google.

Suddenly her breath caught in her throat; the title of the newest news article read 'Musical industries' 'Rachel Berry' hit by drunk driver. Not sure whether alive, or dead.'


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh My God!" Harmony whispered, her eyebrows scrunching up as a watery frown graced her face.

The girl felt her eyes sting as her vision began to blur; tears of shock and fear were rapidly forming themselves. Soon the droplets broke free from her eyes, slowly rolling down her face. Sobs began to form in her throat and as much as Harmony wanted to hold them in, they forced themselves out.

Harmony was instantly in a state of denial. Her Mother _couldn't_ be dead; she couldn't! But no matter how many times Harmony told herself this, she still knew that it was a possibility.

Harmony shaking inhaled. "Please tell me that this news article is fake; that they're over exaggerating for publicity."

Harmony vaguely heard someone walking towards her room. In a state of desperation, Harmony believed that it could be her Mother, but it was Nellie who walked into her room.

"Harmy, what's wrong?" Nellie instantly pulled her older sister into a hug, weakly attempting to comfort her; all Harmony did was cry into her sister's arms, her sobs slowly decreasing in strength, only to once again increase in power a few seconds later.

"It's Okay, Harmy." Nellie's words soothed the brunette, allowing her tensed body to relax slightly. "Tell me what's upsetting you."

"Mum… she…" Was all Harmony could stammer before a fresh wave of tears began rolling down her face. Eventually, Harmony raised her shaking hand in order to point to the laptop on the desk beside her.

Nellie weakly gasped as she read the title of the news article. The younger girl quickly clicked on the heading in order to see the full story. Immediately a picture of their Mum's destroyed Car loaded on the screen, causing the situation to become way more real. Nellie tried to be strong for both herself and her sister but a few tears found their way down her face.

"We have to go to the hospital, now!" Nellie shakily whispered. The girl quickly grabbed Harmony's mobile and called for a taxi. She then grabbed her sister's wrist and led the older girl outside, in order to wait for the cab.

"Do you think Mum's going to be alright?" Harmony asked her younger sister, her bottom lip trembling slightly. Nellie was thankful that the girl's crying had decreased into a mere occasional sob.

"I'm sure she is going to be fine!" Nellie reassured her sister, although she knew that her statement could very easily be a lie.

Nellie felt nervous as the taxi suddenly pulled up; she'd never really been a people-person. The brunette felt herself silently gulp as she entered the taxi. She was about to talk to the stranger who drove the cab, when Harmony instructed him to go to the hospital. Nellie let out a barely audible sigh of relief as she allowed herself to relax into the comfortable fabric of the taxi.

The two girls had decided to sit in the back of the taxi together; silently supporting one another. As the car approached the hospital in which the news article claimed Rachel was, Harmony spoke,

"I know that Mum's a fighter. She can pull through."

Nellie wordlessly agreed, deeply inhaling as the Taxi pulled into the hospital car park. The two sisters Immidietely stumbled out of the vehicle; they both wanted to see their Mum as quickly as possible. They needed to confirm that she was okay; that the crash wasn't as bad as it looked.

While Harmony went to pay the cab driver, some reporters saw Nellie. Instantly they headed over, flooding the teen with questions, as photographers snapped pictures of her upset appearance. Nellie felt timid and speechless in front of the large amount of people who had gathered around her. Luckily for Nellie, her sister soon came and grabbed her wrist, quickly leading her away from the crowd.

"We know less than you!" Harmony shouted over her shoulder to them. The reporters either looked very unhappy at her statement, or had a look that said 'yeah right!' on their faces. However, most stopped following the two girls, as they realised that they wouldn't get any information from them.

Once the two had entered the hospital building, no one was following them; Nellie correctly presumed that they were not allowed to come into the hospital building for media related issues. Harmony rapidly dragged her sister up to the receptionists' desk.

"What has happened to Rachel Berry?" Harmony demanded. "We're her daughters, so you can legally announce medical details to us."

The lady working in the reception area gave them a sympathetic grimace; her old faded grey eyes glinting with sorrow. Harmony felt her palms begin to sweat; this was not the desired body language from the receptionist. The older Berry sister felt herself shudder as she sensed that this woman was foreboding something.

"I think it would be best for you to hear the news from your Dad, sweethearts." The lady sighed.

Nellie knew how much Harmony disliked Finn, so the younger girl decided to be brave and quickly take charge of the situation.

"Thank you, Miss." She murmured before Harmony had a chance to speak and demand more information from the grey-haired lady. "Could you please tell us where he is?"

"You go down that hallway on the left, into the room 'D4'. He's just signing some documents now."

Luckily for Nellie, Harmony realised that this receptionist wouldn't tell her anything more, so she obediently followed her younger sister down the hallway in order to see their Dad.

"Finn," Harmony addressed her Father, "the receptionist told us that you have information on Rachel's current condition. How is she? Can we see her?"

For a while Finn ignored his eldest daughter's question. Slowly he finished signing some documents; he then turned to the two girls. As Harmony stared into his eyes she saw mixed emotions; a combination of sadness and anger. Harmony involuntarily shivered, desperately hoping that her mother had gotten out of the horrible crash with minimal injuries. Eventually Finn's staring came to a stop, as the man opened his mouth, preparing to speak.

"She's dead. She didn't die when that drunk driver hit her, but she didn't make it to hospital alive." Finn then turned to walk out of the room, a blank expression on his face; the girls were left standing near a random doctor. Nellie felt herself begin to cry; this time she didn't try to stop her tears. She looked at her sister for comfort, only to see a blank look, that matched Finn's, on Harmony's face.

As soon as the eldest Berry sibling heard the news, she felt her chest begin to go numb. Once again Harmony began to feel denial; she refused to believe what her father had said.

"Finn _must_ be lying!" Harmony whimpered. "He has to be! We are going back to receptionist right now to hear what condition our Mummy really is in!" Harmony's voice had rapidly escalated to a shout. The infuriated girl then stormed out of the room. Nellie slowly sighed at her sister's denial.

The younger brunette was very upset; she was so unsure of herself right now. Usually whenever she felt like this, she would go to her sister. Harmony would always support her, reassure her and even comfort her. The few times that she didn't want to go to Harmony, she had gone to her Mother for help. Nellie would have to wait til eleven in order to speak to her Mother, but the teen didn't mind missing sleep.

For a while Nellie stood in D4, allowing the news of her Mothers' death to fully sink in. Eventually, the doctor, who had been helping Finn sign the forms, over-politely asked her to return to the waiting area. Nellie nodded to the man, annoyed, as she suppressed a roll of her eyes.

"I have to find Harmony, anyway," the teen mumbled as she began searching for the older girl.

Almost immediately she found Harmony, who was crying In front of the receptionist. Nellie groaned as she realised that her sister was telling the receptionist that she was wrong; that Rachel was alive and fine.

"Let's go find Finn and head home, Harmy." Nellie gently whispered to her sister with puppy-dog eyes. She gently clasped the girl's wrist, tugging it slightly.

Harmony looked like she was about to argue with her sister, but as they were face to face with each other, she saw the vulnerability in her sibling's eyes; instantly her sisterly instincts took over, and she pulled Nellie into a hug.

Nellie felt extremely grateful that the protective side of her sister had returned; and that the psychotic denial-filled side was beginning to deteriorate; that Harmony was slowly managing to gain control of her emotions. Finally, Nellie broke the hug and began pulling her sister towards the car park.

Nellie heard Harmony apologise to the receptionist as they left; she could tell that her older sister felt bad for hysterically yelling at the old woman.

As the girls looked for their father in the car park, the reporters flooded them again. The constant questions and picture taking returned, causing both girls to wince.

"Have you seen Finn?" Harmony yelled at the crowd of reporters. After a while of gibberish, she managed to hear someone shout 'he left about four minutes ago' through the crowd. Nellie let out a near-silent groan, while Harmony had a look that said 'I'm not impressed' on her face. As Harmony and Nellie rapidly walked away from the reporters, Harmony called another taxi, snapping at whoever was on the other end of the phone.

* * *

"Finn!" Harmony yelled though their house as she and Nellie walked in. The brunette felt extremely frustrated with him; Harmony didn't mind that he'd left her at the hospital, but leaving Nellie behind? Harmony was furious. The older girl knew that Nellie desperately wanted her Father's approval, and, unlike Harmony, she didn't think he was doing things like living off Rachel. "Finn?"

The two girls rapidly searched their entire house for their father, quickly glancing in every room; however they soon determined that he wasn't home.

"What now?" Nellie asked.

Harmony quickly decided that she would cook dinner for Nellie and herself. She knew that Finn probably wouldn't come home today; he'd probably gone to see Puck or one of his other high school friends. Harmony was glad that her mother had taught her some simple recipes, for times when the two siblings were home alone.

Nellie helped her sister; they both cooked in silence, the death of their mother fresh in their minds. Once the meal of rice and Salad was done, they began to mutely eat. It didn't take long for both of them to finish the vegetarian meal. As soon as they had both placed their plates into the dishwasher, Harmony began to stagger up to her room; although, before she had even begun to walk up the stairs, she heard Nellie quietly speak.

"We're going to be okay!" Was what the younger girl exclaimed, offering Harmony a grimace-like smile.

Harmony weakly offered her sister a small smile back, before continuing up to her room. As soon as the older brunette had shut her door, she collapsed onto her bed, allowing the emotional exhaustion to overwhelm her. It didn't take long for the brunette to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Harmony! Come out of your room, right now!" Nellie meekly commanded her older sister, trying to sound forceful but failing.

Harmony had stayed in her room since they had come back from the hospital, three days ago. Nellie knew that her older sister thought that Finn had been taking care of her, but the man had barely come home in the past couple of days, and when he was home he was drunk, or passed out on the couch.

Luckily for Nellie, her Mum had taught her how to cook a few basic meals. They were all vegan, but Nellie didn't mind giving up meat and dairy for a few days. The girl had been taking meals up to her sister as well; she could tell how broken Harmony was after the news of their Mother's death.

Nellie had taken the news much better than Harmony. She'd gone on the internet a lot, distracting herself with cute cat pictures. She'd also received e-mails from most of her friends. Nellie didn't like seeing the 'I'm sorry' e-mails that she was constantly receiving, as they reminded her of the death of her mother, but she enjoyed all of her friend's nice messages. Ali and Shanna were even coming over for a sleepover that night.

"Harmy, please." Nellie pleaded, "Ali and Shan are coming over for a sleep over and I need your help preparing everything."

Nellie heard Harmony begin to shuffle towards her bedroom door; the young brunette sighed in relief as it slowly creaked opened. Harmony looked like a mess. Her hair was extremely tangled, like she hadn't brushed it for days; her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she looked like she'd barely slept.

"Where's Finn?" Harmony asked, rubbing her tired eyes. Nellie noticed that the girl's voice didn't have much power in it.

"I'm not sure, he hasn't really been here that much." Nellie quietly replied. Immediately the brunette regretted telling her sister that. She knew that Harmony would definitely be furious.

Surprisingly, Harmony just sighed, then walked downstairs with her shoulders slumping. The brunette began to help Nellie set up some blankets and pillows, her gaze never rising from the floor. Nellie couldn't help but frown at her sister's robot-like motions; the teen was also very confused as to why Harmony didn't explode with anger over Finn's absence. Nellie felt worried by her sister's behaviour.

Once the sofa bed was pulled out, and three blankets sat neatly folded on the edge, Harmony gently grabbed her hairbrush and began to run it through her hair; as she did this she began to hum. Nellie quickly recognised the familiar song; it was one of their Mother's favourites, called 'Defying Gravity'.

Nellie allowed the frown to leave her face, as her worry level dropped. The brunette knew that music was Harmony's way of recovering. The older girl had always turned to music for pretty much everything.

When the teens Ex-boyfriend, Cameron, had dumped her, she had simply listened to sad break-up songs for a few days. After her moping faze, she had returned to the normal, protective and quite hyper Harmony that Nellie relied on. About a month after her break up she began to date a new guy.

Nellie knew that this wouldn't be as simple though; she knew that Harmony would probably mostly recover from their loss; that they would never get a new Mum to fill the void. Nellie sighed to herself; she knew that she would probably always feel that emptiness too.

Slowly the tears that Nellie had been trying so hard to distract herself from began to form. The girl quickly put on a brave face, trying to prevent them from falling. Vigorously, she blinked, attempting to dry them up; Unfortunentely, one stray tear found its way down her face. Instantly Harmony noticed.

"Everything's okay, Nell." Harmony gently reassured her.

The elder girl felt bad that she had left her younger sister all by herself for the past three days. She thought that Finn would be there for her sibling; that he'd comfort her when she was sad, but he wasn't. The older brunette distinguished that she had to stop hiding from the past and be strong.

"Stop acting like a young child and go make your sister feel better." Harmony thought with frustration.

The teen soon got an idea, gently pushing Nellie over to their piano. The young brunette gave her sister a watery smile; Harmony knew that one of Nellie's favourite activities was to play the piano with their Mum. She remembered the first time Nellie had finished playing a song on the piano.

Nellie was seven years old, and Rachel, who had a lot of time to spend with her two daughters back then, had begun to teach Nellie how to play.

"This note here is called C, Nellie." Harmony had heard Rachel say from the lounge room. "Give it a press." Nellie had eagerly pressed the note and the sound had echoed throughout the house.

Rachel had then begun to teach Nellie all the notes, explaining them then allowing Nellie to press the keys of the instrument. A week later, Rachel had forced Harmony to stand in the piano room as Nellie gave a 'concert'.

The younger girl had simply played 'hot cross buns', but afterwards Rachel had loudly applauded and gave her daughter a big hug; while Harmony had told her younger sister that she liked her version of 'hot cross buns' more than any other.

Nellie had gotten quite good at the piano over the years, and Harmony wished her sister would be more confident with her talent. Harmony had often listened to her Mum and little sister play, even as Rachel had gotten busier and busier and the lessons had become fewer and fewer.

Rachel had even gotten Nellie to play a few songs while she was teaching Harmony various vocal exercises. At first Nellie was nervous about playing in front of Harmony, as the two siblings weren't as close as they currently were, but with Rachel's encouragement, Nellie rapidly gained the confidence.

Immidietely, Harmony began to sing the familiar warm up. Nellie quickly remembered all the times that the three had shared, and started to play the familiar notes. Harmony could tell that remembering the good times they had with their Mother would help them move on from her death.

Nellie felt her sadness decrease as she continued to press on the keys of the piano. The combination of the sound of the instrument and Harmony's voice caused her to relax. The piano had always seemed to have a positive effect on her, and having her mother as a teacher was definitely a positive.

The girl liked that her mother never pressured her to get it right on the first try; that the woman would always be there to support her until she finally perfected the music sheet. Rachel had also never forced Nellie to take any sort of music exam; she'd simply allowed Nellie to play for herself.

When Harmony had sung the last note of the repetitive warm-up, and the two sisters' had finished their musical activity, they both felt much better; although there still was a little sadness floating in the air.

"Let's go to the store and get some things for the sleepover." Harmony suggested, her voice strengthening; the girl quickly rushed to the kitchen to grab some money. Nellie quietly agreed with her sibling, quickly grabbing her house key. The two girls then began the walk to their local supermarket, ready to buy the stereotypical sleepover junk food.

* * *

Finn gulped down the alcoholic beverage in his hand as he continued to play some mindless, violent video game with Puck. The man had been avoiding going home as much as possible; he couldn't help not wanting to go there, as he knew that all he'd see was a younger version of Rachel both Harmony and Nellie.

He had loved Rachel a lot and it was heartbreaking for him to know that she was dead; Finn missed her more than anyone, and he knew that he would do anything to see her alive again. He also knew that Harmony wouldn't want him at home anyway.

Finn felt that he had messed up as a father on both Harmony and Nellie. He couldn't help it though, he'd never had a proper father to look to, so he'd forced the girl's not to have a proper one either. He just didn't know what he was supposed to do with them or how he's supposed to act towards them. He was glad that Rachel had taken on the role of the teacher of life lessons.

Slowly he took another sip of the alcohol and continued playing the violent game. He refused to think about his wife or kids anymore; it hurt too much.


	4. Chapter 4

As the two sisters walked into the store, they felt people beginning to stare at them. Nellie could see that most had sympathy in their eyes; it made her want to run away and hide, but she knew that she had to be confident. She didn't want to put her life on hold for these random people.

"Do you want chocolate or ice cream?" Nellie heard Harmony ask as she tore her gaze away from a random boy.

"Ice cream sounds good." The younger girl replied, trying to sound positive in spite of the sad looks that followed them around.

"We should get vegan ice cream so that Mum can-" Harmony quickly stopped her sentence, her eyes widening as she covered her lips with her hand. The older girl rapidly grabbed some regular strawberry ice cream, before continuing to walk in silence.

"I'm sor-" Harmony began to apologize, but Nellie instantly interrupted.

"No, it's fine. We have to forget sometimes... It's healthy," the younger girl stated, trying not to upset either her sister or herself.

Harmony nodded at her sister with appreciation, a small grimace settling on her face. The two quickly grabbed the rest of the food items they needed for Nellie's sleep-over; Harmony then used the self-checkout, in order to avoid an awkward pity-filled conversation with the cashier.

As the two teenage girls walked home, they caught sight of a man, whose eyes widened as soon as he saw them. Instantly he approached them, preventing them from continuing towards their house by standing directly in front of them.

'"Hello, there!" He exclaimed with fake-enthusiasm.

Harmony simply raised an eyebrow at him, while Nellie nervously twitched her fingers. The guy looked nice enough; he was quite short, although he was still taller than both of the girls. His light brown hair was in a 'Justin Bieber' style cut, and he looked quite strong; he'd obviously played some sort of contact sport at various times in his life.

The man's clothes looked formal, but not the whole 'I work in a powerful office building' formal; especially since he was wearing a black cap backwards on his head. The thing Nellie didn't like about this man was his eyes. They were a bright green, which Nellie thought was a nice colour, but they shone with masked hatred.

"Can I ask you two lovely ladies some questions?" He asked, and without waiting for an answer he began to speak once again. "How do you feel about your mother's death?"

"No comment." Harmony quickly stated the reply that their mother had taught them. She then grabbed Nellie's hand and pulled her away from this mysterious man. He began to follow them, but before too long Harmony had managed to lose him in the crowd of the New York streets.

"How _do_ you feel, Harmy?" Nellie asked her sister as they neared their house. Harmony gently sighed and blinked away the tears that had begun to form from the up-front reminder of their mother's death.

"How about we talk about this tomorrow, after your friends have gone? Harmony suggested. Nellie knew that Harmony wasn't going to answer her today, so she rapidly dropped the topic.

As soon as the sisters arrived home, Harmony ordered pizza; the two then set up the various lollies and chips in bowls, making sure that the ice cream was sitting in the freezer.

Harmony then dragged Nellie upstairs, rummaging through both girls' closets as she attempted to find something for Nellie to wear. The younger brunette couldn't help but roll her eyes at this, but she stayed silent, allowing her older sister to frantically throw items of clothing everywhere as she searched for the perfect dress.

Finally Harmony decided on one, and commanded Nellie to try it on; the young brunette quickly obeyed her sister, chuckling slightly as the girl overdramatically gasped, then opened her mouth to comment on it, only to be interrupted by the doorbell.

"Everything's ready," Nellie gratefully sighed as she rushed down stairs to grab the pizza from the delivery boy. "Thanks for all the help, Harms."

Harmony nodded, before heading to her room. Nellie correctly predicted that she was going to go and sleep; bags were beginning to form under the older girl's eyes.

* * *

"Nellie! It's so good to see you!" Ali exclaimed as she wheeled through the berry household. "I love those clothes you're wearing!"

Nellie knew that Harmony had always been more into fashion than herself, and that the older girl _loved_ to dress her up. Nellie usually protested against this, but Harmony had really come through for her this time. The clothes that the older girl had chosen wasn't too over-the-top like the one she had forced Nellie into when they went to see their mother perform.

Her current outfit consisted of a short-ish black dress that went to just above her knees and a light crème coloured cardigan, that one of their mothers' friends, named Quinn, had given them. Nellie had also tied a small black ribbon into her short hair.

"Thanks." Nellie timidly replied, enthusiastically smiling at her friend. Nellie was glad that Ali wasn't treating her with extreme sympathy, like most others currently were. The brunette knew that Ali hated when people treated her with too much pity over the loss of her legs, and her view extended perfectly on Nellie's current situation.

As the two began to make their way towards the lounge, the doorbell rung. Simultaneously, the two turned, giggling slightly as Nellie reached out to open the door. Shanna was standing outside, fiddling with her fingers slightly.

"Hey there, Nell." Shanna softly stated with a sad smile.

"Hi," Nellie couldn't help but grimace slightly. She was sick of the constant sad looks that she'd received today, and getting one from Shanna was not helpful. The brunette wanted to enjoy herself tonight; she didn't want it to turn into a pity party.

"I brought over a romantic comedy." Ali suddenly exclaimed, breaking the awkward silence that was beginning to form between her two friends.

"Is it that one you've been dying to see for the past two months?" Nellie asked with a smile. Ali vigorously nodded, causing both Shanna and Nellie to laugh at their friends' over-enthusiasm.

"I'll go put it on! Shanna can you help me?" Ali quickly began to roll into the lounge with Shanna quick on her heels. The blonde sensed that she was in trouble for some reason; although she had no idea why.

"I'll go grab the popcorn and pizzas," Nellie yelled after her two friends.

Nellie quickly went and grabbed the large amount of microwave popcorn that she and Harmony had purchased. The brunette soon realised that she could hear Ali speaking sternly to Shanna. The girl couldn't help but grin at Ali's over-protectiveness, although she hoped that the blonde would go easy on Shanna. Nellie knew that she'd be lying if she said that she didn't appreciate it though; she knew that Shanna would now stop the sad glances.

Once Nellie felt that she could balance everything without dropping it, she walked into the living room. Ali was already holding the remote, ready to press play, while Shanna was nervously playing with the hem of her light purple dress. Nellie quickly sat down in between her friends.

"You can press play now, Ali." Nellie exclaimed causing the blonde to start the movie without delay.

Soon the three were laughing at the odd situations that the characters had got themselves into. The tension between Nellie and Shanna had faded away, and the three were having a genuine good time.

* * *

Harmony blinked away tears as she woke up with a start; the girl had had a nightmare about her mother. Slowly she forced her slightly raged breathing to slow as she pushed the bad dream to the back of her mind.

As the brunette glanced over to the clock on her desk, she heard Nellie and her friends hysterically laughing. Harmony couldn't help but smile at this; she was glad that her younger sister was having a good time.

Suddenly Harmony felt slightly claustrophobic, as she realised that she had barely left her room for the past couple of days; the girl was sick of reminiscing back to the past. The short walk to the supermarket was a good excuse to get out of the house, but all the sad glances that seemed to endlessly follow her around continuously reminded her of what happened to Rachel. She pretended to ignore the sad looks for her sister's sake, but they still internally affected her.

Harmony slowly walked over to the desk and grabbed her phone. The girl immediately noticed twenty missed calls from her boyfriend, Damian, as well as several others from her close friends. Quickly, Harmony decided to call Damian back.

"Hello? Harmony? Are you there?" He asked in his familiar Irish accent as he picked up the phone.

"Yes. I'm here." Harmony instantly replied, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Thank goodness. I was so worried! Do you want to have dinner tonight? To catch up and talk about…" Damian hesitated before finally mumbling, "stuff."

"That would be great, Damo." Harmony enthusiastically replied, jumping at the chance to get out of her room again; the brunette could practically feel her boyfriend smiling through the phone.

"Pick you up in half an hour." He exclaimed, before making a kissing sound through the phone and hanging up. Harmony giggled a little at this, and then went to get ready for her date.

While searching through her closet, Harmony's thoughts began to wonder back to earlier today.

"Why must the press come at the worst times?" Harmony grumbled to herself. The brunette knew that one of the negatives of having a well-known mother was the constant media attention; she hated that she was constantly asked personal questions by complete strangers.

Harmony was curious as to why Nellie had tensed up though; the reporter didn't look significantly different to any other, although he did have all the traits of a successful one. He had a handsome smile that could make everyone swoon, as well as the stalker skills; he had followed the sisters for quite a while before they managed to lose him.

Soon enough, half an hour had passed and Harmony was all dressed up in semi-formalwear for her and Damian's outing. As soon as she heard the honking of a car horn, she rushed outside, correctly predicting that Damian was there.

"I'm going out, Nellie." Harmony called to her younger sister as she began to shut the door. She knew that Nellie would be safe at home with her two friends to protect her. "Remember to call the police if anyone is watching the house!" Harmony added; it had happened before.

"I will, Harmy." The elder brunette heard her sister yell from inside. Deeply inhaling, Harmony slammed the front door, then rushed into the passenger seat of her boyfriend's old car.


	5. Chapter 5

"Yari?" Damian immediately asked. Harmony allowed a small giggle to escape her lips at her boyfriend's 'are you alright?'

"I'm okay." She simply stated, her smile beginning to morph into a grimace.

Damian could tell that the girl was quite a bit more upset than she was letting on, but decided not to press. He'd seen Harmony get angry before and it was _not_ pretty. Instead, Damian just nodded.

As they pulled up to a red light he placed a gentle kiss on Harmony's lips, hoping that this would prevent her from yelling at him; he knew that he was successful when Harmony smiled at him, then rested her head on his shoulder.

After five minutes of driving in a comfortable silence, Damian parked in front of a restaurant that they both enjoyed. It was a very basic Italian place, but it was extremely delicious. Damian loved how fresh their ingredients were, and how there seemed to be something for everyone he knew.

"Remember when we came here on our first official date?" Damian questioned Harmony, winking at her.

"Yeah." Harmony unpretentiously replied.

Damian noticed that Harmony didn't seem to have as much energy as usual. She just wasn't the peppy, enthusiastic girl that she usually was. Damian could tell that she was torn up about the death of her Mother, and being the gentleman that he was, he decided to offer his support and risk Harmony's rage.

"Harmony, cutie, I'm here for you." He began. "If you ever want to talk about what happened…"

"Damian!" Harmony quickly interrupted, "can we just forget about that for now! I just want to go on a nice date to get my mind off life."

'At least the dramatic side of Harmony is still there.' Damian sceptically thought, although he was secretly grateful that Harmony hadn't begun to angrily rant at him. Damian did regret his words though; he hated seeing Harmony get upset and it pained him that he had caused that, indirectly.

The boy knew that Rachel was an extremely important person to Harmony; the boy had heard her rant about how horrible of a parent Finn was constantly. The boy just hoped that she'd be able to put aside her differences so that the three-person family could live in peace.

'I'm glad the subject of Rachel's death isn't hanging in the air anymore.' The boy thought as Harmony began looking at the menu. Damian glanced down at his menu as well, although he already knew what they were going to order; they always bought a small thin-crust salami pizza and a vegetarian lasagne.

"Hey there, Gorgeous." A waitress raspily whispered to Damian, pulling out a pen and a notebook.

This waitress was known to the couple as the biggest flirt ever. On Harmony and Damian's first date she had begun to chat him up. Instantly Harmony had become jealous; she had begun to 'accidently' insult the woman as she ordered. Once the waitress had left, Damian had told the fuming brunette that he only had eyes for her, which had successfully stopped the jealousy; although Damian did catch the two exchanging a glare later that night.

For the sake of Harmony, Damian simply ignored the waitress's advances on him, choosing to emotionlessly order their food. As the waitress walked away the two teens begin to talk again. Soon their conversation drifted to casual topics, like the various clubs that the two attended, and school in general.

Damian even made an attempted to tell 'the Goss' to Harmony, despite not generally paying attention to the numerous rumours that were spread around. Damian was glad that the date was beginning to go well, and that Harmony was starting to return to her normal self; sereneness was settling between them.

Once the food arrived, and Damian was once again forced to ignore the waitress, the two began to eat. Damian, as usual, finished his food first; he began telling Harmony all about their awesome substitute teacher, Holly Holiday. The boy was glad that she was able to make his girlfriend laugh with his crazy tales; it was a lot better than seeing her upset.

Once Harmony was finished eating, Damian paid the bill, despite Harmony's protests that they should split it.

The two then rushed back to Damian's car, both beginning to sprint as is turned into a friendly race; Damian was definitely the better runner though; he easily beat his girlfriend there.

"I win, as usual," He grinned, fist pumping.

"Grow up," Harmony replied, panting slightly; Damian could tell that she was joking though, as she couldn't hold back her overly-large grin.

Once they were both sitting in the cheap car, Damian began to drive Harmony home. Usually they'd go on a walk after eating, but the Irish boy knew that Harmony would want to be around Nellie in their time of loss. Damian, along with their entire high school, knew how protective Harmony was of her younger sister.

* * *

"Nellie!? Harmony!?" Nellie heard her Father slur as he walked in the door. "Where are you Nellie?"

Shanna and Ali shared a worried glance as they realized that he was extremely drunk.

"I'm going to go talk to my Dad for a second. You two keep watching the movie." Nellie murmured to her two frowning friends. Before either blonde had a chance to protest, Nellie had stood up and begun to walk towards the hallway.

"I'm here, Finn." Unlike Harmony, Nellie usually called Finn 'Dad', but she felt the need to use his real name due to the drunken state he was in. Harmony had taught Nellie all about the different types of drunks, and how they could become abusive. Nellie highly doubted that this would happen to Finn, but he seemed pretty wasted, so she was cautious.

"Where's Harmony?" He mumbled, trying to sound calm as he acknowledged that he was upsetting her.

"She's on a date with her boyfriend." Nellie squeaked, gaining a little more confidence as Finn continued to attempt to stay calm.

His attempts were less than successful though, as his eyes suddenly filled with rage at Nellie's statement. The man angrily smashed the empty bottle of alcohol that Nellie didn't even know that he was holding. Instantly the girl's reflexes kicked in and she jumped back, avoiding all of the tiny glass shards. Finn didn't give Nellie time to say anything; he stormed away, just as Shanna ran in.

"Oh my Gosh! Nellie? Are you hurt?" The initial questions came, followed by a "Wait! Was that _your Dad?_" Nellie just stared at Shanna with wide eyes, eventually nodding.

"Come on; let's get back to the movie!" Nellie shakily mumbled, causing Shanna's frown to deepen. The blonde did, however, reluctantly agree; the girls headed back into the lounge to continue watching the movie, not bothering to clean up the glass.

* * *

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Finn shouted into his pillow. "Why does my teenage daughter get to be in love while my heart is crushed? She doesn't deserve love."

Finn couldn't help but feel bitter about Harmony and her boyfriend, as well as anyone who was in love. He had been happily married to his dream girl, but that had all changed because of that drunk driver who had hit her car.

The drunk had even survived with practically no harm done to him, other than a broken arm, while _his_ Rachel had sustained heavy internal bleeding in the brain, causing her to die in less than fifteen minutes.

What was even worse was that all the driver had to do was pay a large fine, and do a hundred hours of community service. He had also lost his license for two years, but no amount of punishment would be enough for this man in Finn's opinion.

"If only she wasn't going to pick up the children. She would have stayed at work until ten and the whole crash would have been avoided." Finn muttered to himself. "Why would she agree to the teens begging to occasionally pick them up from school? Why would she spend less time at work for them?"

It didn't make sense to Finn, who was currently pretty drunk. He couldn't help but feel like the children contributed to her death, despite the supposed contribution being very indirect.

"Maybe it was your fault too." A little voice in his head whispered. "You _were_ talking to her over the phone, which may have distracted her from the road."

Instantly Finn was furious with himself. He loved Rachel so much and he would never do anything to contribute to her death.

"That's not possible!" He angrily yelled to himself as got up from his bed; the bed which he and Rachel had previously shared. He walked downstairs and out of the house, once again heading to Puck's place.

He soon realised that he was actually glad that Harmony wasn't home, as she reminded him of his dead wife and he really couldn't face that tonight, or tomorrow; or in the next week. She even had young love with that Damian kid; young love which Finn and Rachel had shared in their teenage years, although theirs was slightly more drama filled.

* * *

"I had a nice time tonight, Irish." Harmony mumbled to her boyfriend, letting out a giggle as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Me too, Cutie!" Damian full-heartedly agreed.

The two shared a goodnight peck, then Harmony got out of the car and walked towards the Berry household. She quickly spun around as Damian honked the horn of his car, only to see that he was waving at her. The teenage rapidly waved back to her boyfriend, then continued the short journey to her front door.

"He really can be very sweet sometimes." Harmony thought to herself.

As Harmony was unlocking the front door, she turned to face him one last time; he blew an imaginary kiss at her, smirking as he saw her blush ever so slightly.

"I'll miss you!" She heard him yell as he finally he drove away, going slightly faster than the speed limit in an attempt to show off.

Harmony immediately rolled her eyes, hoping that his reckless behaviour wouldn't get him injured; she'd already had one loved one die in a car accident. Harmony relaxed as she finally managed to unlock the door, walking in, and then shutting the wooden entrance as she receives a text from the Irish boy.

All it was was a little heart emoticon, but it still caused Harmony to smile. The brunette loved how affectionate her boyfriend was currently being, but she knew that all the affection in the world wouldn't make up for her mother's missing praise.

As Harmony's attention shifted away from her phone, she noticed that there was smashed glass all over the floor. Instantly her breath hitched as her mind began to ponder the various reasons as to why the potentially dangerous shards were there.

"Where is Nellie?" Harmony rapidly panicked, hoping that whoever smashed the glass hadn't laid a hand on her sister.


	6. Chapter 6

Harmony franticly ran into the lounge room, nearly tripping in her haste; relief immediately filled her as she saw her younger sister asleep on the couch, her two friends laying either side of her. Harmony noted that Nellie had a slight frown on her face, as did Shanna; a grimace quickly found its way onto Harmony's face as she narrowed her eyes.

"I need to know what happened," Harmony muttered to herself, not wanting to wake the peacefully sleeping girls.

Harmony knew that Nellie would never drink alcohol until she was twenty-one; she also knew that neither Shanna nor Ali would even _think _of bringing any. They were far too innocent to go against the laws of drinking. The elder brunette was definitely glad that Nellie had friends like these two sleeping blondes; both girls were very loyal to her younger sister, and constantly steered her away from trouble.

The question of the smashed bottle of alcohol, however, was still fresh in Harmony's mind.

"Could someone have broken in?" she mused, "a thief maybe? A drunk homeless person looking for shelter?" Harmony shuddered at these thoughts, trembling slightly as she realised that any one of these people could still be in the house.

The brunette quickly went to the kitchen and grabbed a broom; it wasn't much, but it could provide some form of defence if necessary. The teenager then thoroughly searched each room of the house, doing her best to stay quiet for Nellie, Shanna and Ali's sakes. Eventually, Harmony concluded that there were no strangers lurking in the house, unless of course they were in Finn and Rachel's room.

Harmony cautiously pushed to the door open and stumbled in. Immediately she smelt alcohol, causing her to flinch; she quickly raises her broom, ready to strike if someone jumped out at her. As Harmony flicked the light switch, the room was illuminated with an overly bright light.

The teenager deeply inhaled as she stepped into her parents room, refusing to lower her broom. She didn't see anyone lurking on the purple and dark blue queen-sized bed that her Mother and Finn used to share; nor under the large wooden desk that was covered with various sheets of song lyrics.

Harmony turned to the closet, gulping slightly as she carefully walked over. Temporarily she lowered the broom in order to press her ear against the cupboard door and and listen. She stayed in the same position for quite a while, slowly relaxing as the room remained silent.

"I better search the house one more time," Harmony whispered as she made sure that no one was in the closet, flinging it open to reveal all of Rachel's clothes. The girl forced herself to calm her erratically beating heart as she began to look around the house once more.

As soon as Harmony had finished glancing around, she went used the broom, which she had grabbed as a weapon, to sweep up the broken glass and put it safely in a paper bag on the kitchen table. Harmony was still extremely curious and worried as to where this glass came from; she knew that she'd have to ask Nellie once the younger girl was awake.

The teenager quickly strolled back into the lounge and saw that Nellie and her two friends were still sleeping. Harmony gently grabbed the blankets that were on the floor and lay them on the three sleeping girls; she then walked up to her room, her eyelids drooping. It didn't take long for the singer to collapse onto her bed and fall into a light sleep.

* * *

Harmony's eyes fluttered open as she awoke from her slumber. She quickly glanced over at the clock on her desk, which reads '10.48 AM'. The brunette was glad that she didn't wake up in the middle of the night, tears rolling down her face, as she had for the previous three nights.

After a quick hair brush, and the putting on of a new outfit, Harmony walked down the stairs to see if her younger sister, Shanna or Ali had awoken. As she stumbled into the lounge, she noticed that all three of the young girls were absent. The brunette rapidly presumed that they were in the kitchen, but when she poked her head though the door, all she saw were three empty bowls.

Harmony, shaking her head slightly, walked back up the stairs and towards Nellie's room. She hadn't heard them come up, but she rationalised that her younger sister's room was the only possible place that they could be. Unfortunately for the brunette, the young teens weren't in Nellie's room either; Harmony sighed in frustration, wondering where the three girls could possibly be.

As Harmony mulled over the possible locations, she glanced around Nellie's room. Harmony loved her younger sister's room; the two girls had designed it together when they first moved in. Harmony _had_ let Nellie have the final say on everything though, as it _was_ her room.

Nellie's bed was covered with white sheets; her pillow case had various pictures of cartoon cats. Rachel had given that pillow case to Nellie when the girl was going through her 'I love cats' phase at the age of seven, and the brunette still used it today.

Nellie's stuffed animal collection, which she had begun at the age of four, sat in a neat pile in one of the corners. The soft toys ranged from tiny teddies to a metre long tiger, which Nellie had won at an amusement park. The brunette also had a white and bright blue desk in another corner of the room. Various old tests were scattered on top of it, as well as Nellie's laptop, which Rachel and Finn had bought her for her thirteenth birthday.

Suddenly, Harmony realised that none of Nellie's current schoolwork was on the desk. Nellie's school bag, which usually sat next to the desk, was missing too.

"She's at school!" Harmony exclaimed, her eyes widdening as she realised that Nellie had gone to school with her two friends; it was Monday.

Suddenly the brunette felt obliged to go to school as well; she knew that no one would judge her for not coming after what happened to her Mother, but the teen knew that Rachel would have wanted her to go.

Rachel was always lecturing both Harmony and Nellie on the importance of education. Apparently, Finn had wanted to go to some acting college, but was denied due to his terrible grades. Harmony's mother had gotten extremely good marks on her final exams, and due to this, as well as her undeniable talent and her participation in most of the schools' clubs, she had received an acceptance letter.

Harmony rushed to her room to pack her bag and leave for school; she knew that she'd have to take the bus, as she didn't want to call Damian out of class in order to pick her up. The girl briefly considered taking a taxi, however, she determined that taking the public transportation would definitely be the fastest way.

Once Harmony had all the necessary books for her school day, she began to walk to the bus stop, making sure the front door was firmly locked. After about fifty steps, she saw the interviewer who had stopped her and Nellie on the way back from the shop yesterday. He appeared to be following her, which caused Harmony to bite her lip, then quicken her pace. She knew that she'd be bombarded with endless questions if he got on the bus with her.

Harmony was practically sprinting by the time she got to the bus stop; internally she groaned as she saw that there was not another bus for about seven minutes. As she sat down on the bus stop bench, her shoulders slumped; she mentally prepared herself for a confrontation as the interviewer stumbled up to the bus stop.

'Maybe going to school today wasn't such a good idea.' Harmony internally mumbled, fiddling with her fingers slightly.

Harmony defiantly glared as the man stood directly in front of her; he was staring back, almost daring her to speak. After a minute, the brunette looked away, shuddering as she realised why Nellie was so uncomfortable around him yesterday; Harmony saw the hate that was behind them.

Without warning, the short man grabbed the teenager's wrist, beginning to drag her away from the bus stop, and down the currently abandoned street. Instantly Harmony let out a squeak and tried to pull her arm away from his tight grip. Before Harmony realised it, he was pushing her into the back of a news company's van.

Harmony screeched out a loud scream as the man began to drive off.

"Nobody can hear you, Berry's daughter." The man cruelly sneered. Harmony couldn't help but begin to tremble; she desperately hoped the same thing hadn't already happened to Nellie. After trying to scream at the top of her lungs a few more times, she determined that the man is right; no one could hear her.

"Where is this man taking me?" Harmony weakly whispered as the van continued to drive along the smooth road.


	7. Chapter 7

Before long, the van which Harmony was trapped in rolled to a stop. Instantly Harmony tensed, ready to run as soon as the door opened. Time was passing slowly as her breath hitched slightly. After about twenty minutes, Harmony realised that this interviewer – if that was what he really was – had left her alone. Slowly she allowed herself to relax her tense muscles; focusing on listening to determine whether anyone was coming.

Hours and hours seemed to have passed before Harmony heard someone loudly speaking outside of the van. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but she presumed that it was about her. Once again Harmony prepared to run, only to squeak in surprise and try to grab onto the floor, as the van once again began to drive.

After about a minute, the truck screeched to a stop, causing Harmony to fall to the side. Before the brunette had a chance to even sit up, the back of the van opened, and the scared girl was pulled out. Harmony gritted her teeth as she realised that she missed her chance to run.

As she was roughly thrown over someone's shoulder she screamed as loud as she could. The girl was about to scream again when the person who was carrying her walked into a large building. Almost immediately the strong woman threw the teen into a small room; the short interviewer slamming the door shut.

Harmony felt scared; she couldn't help but feel tears of frustration and fear forming, however she vigorously rubbed her eyes before they had a chance to roll down her cheeks. The teen bitterly acknowledged that this had been the worst week of her life.

Seven days ago, her Mother was still alive. Even though Harmony and Nellie didn't see her that often, due to long working hours, Rachel would still show her daughters how much she cared for them.

Sometimes, when the two sisters woke up for school, they'd find raspberry muffins on the kitchen bench, with a note that always said something along the lines of 'My Darling Daughters, I've been missing you while at work! I hope you've been practicing and studying hard. Love and hugs for both of you – Rachel'.

Now, seven days later, she was motherless and trapped in a mysterious room. She wasn't even sure whether she'd see Nellie again; the brunette just desperately hoped that her younger sister was alright, and that nothing like this had happened to her.

"Hello?" Harmony suddenly shouted, hoping that someone would find and release her; the girl timidly wondered when the brown-haired interviewer would come back; she hoped that he would at least tell her why he took her here.

Eventually the brunette got sick of calling out, sliding down the white wall, she looked around the room. It wasn't very big, about four metres wide and five metres tall. In it there sat a simple white table with two wooden chairs pushed under; a white and black clock was hanging on the wall. Other than those basic items the room was empty.

After a while of sitting on the hard wooden ground, Harmony went and grabbed one of the chairs, gradually lowering herself onto it.

In order to calm herself down, she began singing. All she did was a warm up exercise, but it made her feel safer. It reminded her of when she was a young girl; when her mother had first taught vocal warm-ups to her.

Without warning, the interviewer guy slammed the door open, strutting into the room, and interrupting the girl's gentle singing.

"Listen here, Berry's girl, the head of our company is coming here right now to see you." He yelled, causing Harmony to flinch slightly. "You are not to mention anything about us forcing you to come here. She doesn't care! You are to answer her questions accurately and without hesitation."

Harmony dumbly nodded, feeling slightly intimidated. The cruel man then walked out of the room, once again leaving Harmony alone. The brunette couldn't help but feel annoyed with herself; she knew that she should have stood up to this man, or at least demanded answers; instead, she had nodded with a stupid look on her face.

"Guess I inherited more of Finn's traits than I thought." She huffed to herself, waiting for the head of whatever company this was to come and ask her questions. Harmony willed herself to not give them answers, no matter how scared she was. Harmony would never reveal whether the horrible rumours that were spread about her mother were true, even though some of them unfortunately were.

As the door once again opened, the smirking interviewer walked in, followed by a pretty blonde lady. The lady's demeanour seemed gentle and nice, but Harmony wasn't going to trust anyone in this place. The blonde quickly sat down on the other wooden chair, giving Harmony a friendly smile.

"Hi there, sweetheart, my name is Quinn Fabray. Your mother and I were…" The blonde hesitated for a moment before mumbling "very close friends in collage."

Harmony's eyes widened; Quinn Fabray, the girl who sent Harmony and Nellie a cardigan each Christmas, was head of the company which had kidnapped her. As Harmony glared at this woman, she saw long blonde hair; Quinn was wearing a white dress that was appropriate for work, yet casual at the same time. Harmony noted that this woman _did_ look like a slightly older version of the Quinn in the photo book that Rachel had shown her.

Quinn giggled slightly at the look of shock on Harmony's face; only stopping when the teen looked away.

"How are you?" Quinn asked after a moment of silence.

Despite the fact that Harmony knew that this woman was one of her Mum's close friends, she was determined to stick her plan, simply mumbling, "No comment."

The interviewer man gave her a warning glare, stomping his foot once; Harmony did her best to ignore this man, but his hate-filled gaze caused her to shudder. The thing that surprised Harmony was that Quinn actually looked concerned for her; the blonde was sympathetically frowning.

"I know it's hard, sweetie," Quinn began, "but you've got to talk about it with someone! It'll be just you and me; we can start the interview later."

Harmony stubbornly shook her head, determined to stay strong. The interviewer man once again stomped his foot, however this time Quinn noticed.

"Max, can you go see if Cara has finished that report?" She asked him, waving her hand in the direction of the door. The interviewer guy, who Harmony presumed was named Max, begrudgingly walked out of the room.

"Why was he glaring at you?" Quinn asked, though it was more a question to herself; Harmony decided to answer anyway.

"Because I broke one of his rules." Harmony mockingly grunted.

"And what are those rules exactly?" Quinn asked, her voice laced with genuine curiosity. This confused Harmony; why would Quinn, the head of the company, not know the rules that were given to her? Harmony couldn't help but begin a Rachel Berry style rant.

"Well, first off," she began "I _have_ to tell you whatever you to know without even hesitating and I'm not to mention the fact that I was basically kidnapped and brought here… In fact I literally _was_ kidnapped and brought here. You honestly can't expect me to reveal all the dark secrets I hold about my Mother to-" Harmony was cut off mid rant as Quinn stuttered,

"W-what? He _kidnapped_ you? What do you m-mean?"

Harmony, who was fuming due to being interrupted mid-rant, snapped back at Quinn,

"You had that Max guy pull me into one of your news vans against my will, then force me into this small room, and due to the fact that the definition of kidnapping is-"

Once again, Harmony stopped her rant, but this time it was because Quinn had ran out of the room, her face looking slightly paler than seconds before.

Harmony slowly walked out of the small room, as the door had been left open when Quinn stormed out. The brunette quickly turned to the door she had been dragged through while coming into the building. As she tried to turn the handle, it barely moved, meaning the door was locked. Harmony let out a slight sigh as she turned around, deciding to follow the long hallway in the other direction.

Soon the teen reached another door; it was open, meaning that Quinn had probably gone this way. After hesitating for a moment, Harmony walked through the door; she was searching for both, Quinn and a way out.

The teen saw many people sitting at desks, typing in the office area which the brunette had walked into. All of them were frowning ever so slightly; Harmony could see that most of them were itching to gossip.

As the girl continued through the office, she saw another door that had been left open. Harmony quickly slipped in through the door, gently closing it after herself. The brunette could tell that this new room led to Quinn's office, as there was a security guard leaning against one of the walls. Harmony wasn't sure whether she should enter the office or not, but eventually decided that it would be best to stay outside.

Harmony did, however, decide to look through the glass window on the side of the wall. She could see that Quinn was giving this man her infamous HBIC stare; the one that Rachel had told her about. Harmony had to say that she was impressed; she had told her mother that the stare didn't sound that bad, but now that she had seen it in person, she felt a shiver run down her spine.

After a while of what appeared to be Quinn furiously yelling, Max slowly walked out of the office. He gave Harmony a bitter glare and seemed like he was about to approach her, but Quinn came out of her office to talk to Harmony, causing the short man to walk away.

"Harmony, dear, I'm so sorry that happened to you." Quinn exclaimed, pulling the girl into an apologetic hug. "Let me drive you home, it's the least I can do after what Max did to you! I can assure you that will never happen again; I've fired Max. You could choose to press charges against him if you wanted, but I don't think you should, as I presume that you don't want the media cornering you every time you go out.'

"They already do that." Harmony murmured under her breath, although she did agree with Quinn's advice, so she nodded

"If you do want a lift, we can leave right now?," Quinn offered, biting her lip gently.

Harmony hesitated for a moment, before accepting; she knew that she was probably being overly trusting, but Quinn had been nothing but nice to her, and her mother had always spoken highly of her.

Once Harmony had agreed, Quinn went back into her office, grabbing her coat and car keys; then blonde then began to walk towards the car park. Harmony quickly followed her through the office area, then outside. Quinn had a large white car, which she promptly unlocked. The teen sat in the passenger seat, offering Quinn a timid smile.

"I have a gps if you want to enter your address," Quinn began, "I know that you probably won't know where your house is from here."

Harmony briefly nodded before reluctantly entering her address in the electrical device. Once she was done, a little voice asked her to confirm, causing the brunette to jump in fright, before stuttering out "confirm."

Quinn gently chuckled at the girl's terrified response, before beginning to drive the girl home.

* * *

Nellie sleepily stepped off the bus; she was exhausted after her first day back at school. Practically the only thing the brunette had heard today was the constant sound of people saying 'I'm sorry!' and 'Where's Harmony?'.

Suddenly the young teen saw a lone school bag sitting on the bench across the road. Nellie frowned slightly as she wondered what it was doing there; carefully she crossed the road in order to have a closer look at it. As she saw a familiar purple star keychain hanging off one of the zips she began to panic.

"Why's Harmony's bag lying in on the bench here?" Nellie franticly exclaimed out loud. "She wouldn't just leave it here!"

Nellie grabbed Harmony's schoolbag and began to rapidly walk towards their house, her pace speeding up as she neared the building. It didn't take long for her to burst through the front door.

'Harmony?' She immediately yelled, her eyes widening when she got no response. "Are you here, Harmony?"

Once Nellie had locked the front door, she dropped both her and Harmony's schoolbags and ran up to her older sister's room. As she opened the door, she saw that her sister wasn't there. Nellie felt butterflies beginning to flitter in her stomach as she gently bit her lip.

The brunette wasn't used to being alone; usually her sister was there for her, and when she wasn't, Rachel, or even Finn, had her back. Since Rachel wasn't with them anymore, Nellie knew that she'd have to lean on her Father and Harmony for all the support; and since Finn was never home anymore, except when he was drunk, Nellie had begun to rely solely on Harmony.

Nellie did feel that she had gained some strength inside herself in the past couple of days, she had felt a little more confident at school, even raising her hand to answer some of the questions. The brunette acknowledged that she'd never have gained the confidence without Rachel and Harmony's assistance; the brunette was terrified of losing her sister too.

"Where are you, Harmy?" Nellie asked as she stumbled back downstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

"Nellie?" Harmony called out as she walked into the Berry house, Quinn cautiously trailing behind her. Instantly she heard light footsteps running towards her, her little sister soon appearing.

"Oh my god! Harmony, I was so worried. I found your backpack at the bus stop and-" Nellie began to rant, letting her Rachel Berry show, but Harmony quickly interrupted her by serenely saying,

"Nellie, it's OK! I'm here now. We're both safe!" Nellie instantly relaxed at her sister's words. Harmony smiled gratefully at her sister for both her concerns and the fact that she'd taken her bag home. Harmony didn't want to worry Nellie further, so she kept the fact that she had been kidnapped by an obsessive interviewer to herself.

"Who's that?" Nellie finally asked Harmony, pointing towards Quinn.

"My name is Quinn Fabray. Nice to meet you, Nellie." Quinn softly whispered to the nervous girl, chuckling softly at the young girl's jaw dropped.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Fabray." Nellie exclaimed, then quietly murmured "Or is it Mrs?"

"No, I never got married. The person I fell in love with didn't love me back." Quinn gentle stated, allowing the girls to see a more vulnerable side of her as she grimaced.

"I'm sorry." Both sisters simultaneously exclaimed.

"No, don't be." Quinn retorted. "That was a long time ago." _And you probably wouldn't have been born if she had said yes. _Quinn added in her head.

After the blonde's words, the three simply stood there, an awkward silence surrounding them. Finally Nellie spoke;

"Thanks for those cardigans every Christmas, Miss Fabray." Quinn nodded at the girl, eyes shimmering.

"By the way, where is Finn?" Quinn suddenly questioned, expecting to hear that he was at work.

"We're not sure." Nellie whispered.

Harmony was surprised that her younger sister had replied. The two girls were very quiet about their personal life, especially to the people that they didn't know well. Both girls had become more introverted over the years, especially Nellie, due to the exhaustion of constant questions from the media. Yet Nellie obviously trusted Quinn enough to tell her about Finn.

Due to Nellie's judgement, Harmony immediately trusted Quinn too; she knew that her younger sister was a very good judge of character. Nellie had even known how horrible the kidnapper was before he had dragged Harmony into the back of that van.

"Oh." Quinn simply replied. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday, and he kinda might have been drunk." Nellie slowly murmured. "He smashed a bottle before stumbling to his room for a while; he then ran out of the house. We haven't seen him since, but he'll probably be home tomorrow, or at least sometime in the next week."

"Wait." Harmony muttered, looking slightly paler, "that was _Finn_ who smashed the bottle! I can't believe he'd do something like that! Did he hurt you!? He better not have touched a single hair on your head! And he was drunk?! How could he be such a horrible influence in front of you?" Harmony's voice had slowly progressed to a shout.

Quinn couldn't help but agree with Harmony's angry yet worried rant. She had known Finn for a long time, and she would have never thought that he'd come home drunk in front of his kids. Especially since she had always believed that he would have made a much better father for Beth; if she had decided to keep her child. She never thought that his anger would turn to smashing bottles of alcohol. The death of Rachel _really_ must be affecting him badly.

"Since Finn's not here, why don't you let me help you with dinner?" Quinn randomly blurted out, mentally slapping herself for saying it at the most inappropriate of times, but instead of a negative reaction, Nellie began laughing at the sheer randomness of Quinn's offer. This soon caused Harmony to let out a small giggle at the younger girl's laughs, causing both sisters to calm down.

"I'm fine, Harmy, I wasn't hurt, just a little scared. And thanks for the offer Miss Fabray. That would be very nice." Nellie replied.

"Call me Quinn, darling, no need to be formal." The blonde added, as she realized that the two sisters had only addressed her as "Miss Fabray" so far. "What were you going to make for tonight, Harmony?"

Harmony thought deeply for a second; she hadn't really prepared anything for dinner tonight. She quickly realised that either Finn or Rachel would usually do the shopping, so they didn't really have anything to cook with currently. The only food that was in house was the few remaining sweets from Nellie's sleepover.

As Quinn saw Harmony's eyes begin to widen, she realised that they may not have any food in the house. A sixteen year old and a fourteen year old generally weren't used to the large amount of responsibility that these two sisters now had, due to their Mother dying and their father abandoning. Quinn rapidly stated,

"We can go to the supermarket if we need to grab anything for the food?" Instantly Harmony gratefully nodded, while Nellie rushed to put some shoes on, so that the three could leave for the shop.

The blonde and the two brunettes were soon walking to the supermarket; as they strolled, they began to small talk; all three of them thankful that it was not awkward. Quinn and the girls seemed to get along quite well together. After a quick shop, which involved Quinn insisting that they got bacon because it was "the best thing on earth", the teens and blonde were finished with the shopping.

The three then proceeded to walk home with a few bags of shopping, of which Quinn had insisted on buying with her money, despite the Berry sister's protests. Thankfully no one asked for an interview today, although Quinn did notice a few people snap subtle pictures of her with the two girls. Once the three arrived back at the Berry household, they went off to the kitchen to start making the meal together.


	9. Chapter 9

Harmony and Nellie were sitting on the couch as they heard the doorbell ring. The older brunette quickly leapt up and rushed to the front of the house; as she opened the door, she saw Quinn Fabray. The blonde had come over to the berry house every day since Harmony had met her. She would always help out with dinner and homework. It was almost like Quinn was becoming their new Mum, although the two girls knew that no one would ever compare to Rachel.

"Hello, Quinn." Harmony happily squealed, as the blonde made her way into the house.

"Hey there, Harms. I brought some pasta," Quinn retorted to the enthusiastic girl, who gratefully smiled gratefully at her, glad that she was once again helping out.

"Nellie, Quinn's here." Harmony called out to her younger sister.

The two heard the younger brunette yell, "Hi Quinn!"

The two then proceeded to leisurely make their way to the kitchen, politely smiling at each other as they entered the large room.

"Quinn?" Harmony cautiously murmured after a moments silence.

"Yes, Hun?" Quinn absentmindedly replied as she searched the cupboards for a big pot to cook the pasta in.

"Thanks for being there for us. Before this week, you barely knew us. You've been so kind. Nellie really appreciates it, and so do I' Harmony quickly stated, trying to hold back the overly large grin that was finding its way onto her face.

"You're welcome, Sweetie." Quinn replied, a grin temporarily finding its way onto her face. A comfortable silence fell over them as Harmony assisted Quinn with the making of the meal. Once the water had begun boiling, and Harmony had thrown the pasts in, the two began to chat.

"Have you seen Finn recently?" Quinn questioned, staring Harmony directly in the eye. The brunette let out a sigh as she began to think of her father. She had never really liked him _that _much, but he was still her Dad. She definitely never expected him to do something like abandon Nellie, who still looked up to him.

"No," Harmony finally answered, causing Quinn to look at the girl, pity in her eyes. She could tell that the brunette was missing her father, even though she knew that the stubborn girl would never admit it to herself. "Maybe we should look him up in the news section of Google? That's how I first found out about Mum's… you know."

Quinn was slightly startled that Harmony had first heard the news of her mother's death on the internet, instead of from either the hospital or from Finn, but she did know that online news travelled fast. She had seen news updated within minutes of an event, due to working as the head of an important magazine.

"Yeah, we should," Quinn finally replied, biting her lip as she sighed, "but after dinner, alright? It's nearly done."

* * *

Nellie and Quinn curiously looked over Harmony's shoulder as she typed 'Finn Berry' into Google news. Soon they stumbled upon an article which was titled 'Finn "Hudson" Berry the alcoholic?'

"Click on that!" Quinn instructed, her eyebrows scrunching up slightly.

Immediately, Harmony obeyed, and the article quickly loaded onto their screen. The three rapidly began to read it; the website talked about Finn walking around drunk, and crying out for Rachel. According to the article he would usually slap anyone if they went up to him and told him that his wife was dead. Apparently, he would claim that 'you're lying' and 'Rachel could never be dead as long as I love her'.

"Why would Finn do something stupid like that?" Quinn snapped once she was done reading. "I mean, he was always slightly dopey, but this is just madness! How could he let himself go like that?"

"Could the article be fake?" Nellie innocently questioned.

"I suppose it could," Quinn mumbled. "But after that bottle smashing incident you told me about, I'm inclined to believe that it's true."

"Maybe we could find another article on it somewhere?" Harmony exclaimed.

The teen was really not sure whether to believe the article or not. Sure, Finn _definitely _wasn't the best guy, but he wouldn't turn violent. Harmony supposed that it technically was possible, due to the large amount of alcohol he consumed, but she still doubted the validity.

The brunette quickly clicked the back button, causing the news articles to load once again. As she scrolled down, another article caught Quinn's eye. The title of aforementioned article was 'Finn "Hudson" Berry soon to be Finn "Fabray"?'

"Harmony, click on that article!" Quinn instructed, her eyes widdening.

Harmony was about to ask which article the blonde was talking about when she too saw the 'Finn Fabray' article. As soon as the elder Berry girl clicked the article, a picture of the two sisters and Quinn came up. Quickly, the blonde read the article, which claimed that she was about to marry Finn.

"Why is everyone so stupid?" Harmony asked herself as she stood up. "Forget searching for another article, I'm going to go try and call Finn, Okay?" Without confirmation from either her sister or the blonde, Harmony stood up and went to retrieve her mobile phone. As the brunette walked away from the computer, Nellie sat down on the computer chair. She quickly began to scroll down in order to see the comments.

"Surely no one actually believes this!" Nellie exclaimed with a shrug as she began to read them. Immediately she saw comments which read, 'No way! Everyone knows that Fabray is Gay' and 'Quinn Fabgay would never marry Finnept!' Nellie turned to Quinn. The berry sibling looked like she was about to speak, but before she could, Quinn quickly whispered,

"They're right." Nellie nodded at the blonde, not looking at her any different than before. Both she and Harmony had been raised to support homosexual people, especially since Finn's brother, Kurt, was gay.

"We should go check on Harmony," Quinn eventually murmured as she closed the laptop. Nellie quickly agreed, and the two rushed to find the older brunette. They soon discovered that she was sitting in the lounge room, her phone pressed to her ear. They could see that her eyebrows were scrunched up slightly. The two cautiously gave her a questioning glance.

"He's not picking up." Harmony huffed as grabbed the remote to the TV and turned it on, scrunching up her nose.

"Hey, I know this movie!" Quinn suddenly exclaimed as she caught sight of the film playing on the TV screen. "My biological daughter plays the female lead."

"No way!" Nellie exclaimed. "You're the Mum of Beth Corcoran?"

"Sort of. I gave her up for adoption when I was sixteen." The two girls nodded, their Mum had mentioned Quinn's pregnancy once or twice when she told the girls about the blonde.

"We could watch it?" Nellie shyly suggested, causing Harmony to instantly agree.

Quinn nodded slightly, knowing that it would be a good way to get all their minds off Finn. Nellie and Quinn rapidly sat down on the couch next to Harmony and began to watch the movie. However, before the lengthy movie had finished, the three were fast asleep; the whole house was silent, bar the television. This, however, was soon interrupted as the front door creaked open, and Finn Hudson walked into the house.


	10. Chapter 10

Finn staggered into the beautiful Berry house, a painful hangover causing his head to pound. Immediately, he heard the TV playing some random movie; as he walked into the room in order to turn the excruciatingly loud television off and tell the kids to go to bed, he saw them asleep, Quinn Fabray resting in-between them.

His immediate thought was, 'What is HBIC Quinn Fabray doing here?' This thought was soon followed by him grunting, "ugh, my head." as one of the characters on the television screen yelled a line.

Quickly he snatched up the remote and turned the long movie off; he wasn't sure what to do now. He had no idea why Quinn Fabray was in his house. He knew that she worked for some magazine company though, so she could have pressured the kids into telling Rachel's secrets.

"They better not have spilled a word about my wife"' He growled. He was considering throwing Quinn out, but all he really wanted to do right now was sleep his hangover off, so he simply walked up the stairs and collapsed into his bed; he would confront Quinn when he woke up.

* * *

As Quinn woke up, she felt two small bodies resting either side of her; quickly she felt herself tense up. confusion and disorientation filled her mind, before memories of watching Beth's movie with Rachel's children flooded back into her head.

As the blonde glanced at the clock, she realized that it was nearly nine, and that the Berry siblings were late for school. Quinn didn't want to wake the sleeping girls but she knew that they had to go and receive their daily education.

"Nellie? Harmony?" Quinn whispered as she gently shook the sleeping girls. At first there was no response, but after about a minute Harmony murmured,

"Stop, I'm awake." The brunette still hadn't bothered to open her eyes though.

"You're late for school." Quinn hummed in a stern voice, raising her left eyebrow. Immediately Harmony jumped up and Nellie, who Quinn had believed was still asleep, stumbled up, beginning to look for a hair brush.

"Mum's going to be so angr-" Harmony began to say, but quickly stopped herself. The brunette rolled her hands into fists, hating that she forgot that Rachel was dead; it always led to her remembering a second later, causing her to get upset and miss her mother even more.

"Hey, it's okay." Quinn comforted, patting her on the shoulder. "How would you like a lift to school? I'll even tell the person in charge of late slips that I held you up with an interview, so that you don't get in trouble."

"Thanks, Quinn!" Harmony whispered, giving her a watery smile.

The girl then quickly rushed to her room in order to fix her hair, change clothes and grab her books. As Quinn sat back down of the couch, she heard heavy footsteps descending down the stairs. Quinn didn't think that either Harmony or Nellie's footsteps sounded that weighty. Could Finn have come home while they were asleep?

A second later Quinn's suspicions were proven correct, as Finn walked into the lounge room and saw her sitting on the couch.

"Quinn." He acknowledged, half nodding at her.

"Finn." The blonde retorted; the two glared at each other for a while, but Finn looked away first, as Quinn still could pull out her HBIC glare when necessary.

"What are you doing in my house?" He asked with frustration. "Come to trick my kids into spilling Rachel's secrets to you? Come to attempt to steal her away from me again? You're too late!"

"No. I'm taking care of your daughters, unlike you. They needed you, but you weren't there." She borderline yelled.

"You won't succeed with taking my daughters away from me. They'll always choose me, just like Rachel did." Finn smirked smugly as he realised that he had hit a nerve. Quinn didn't know how to reply to that. What the adults didn't realize was that Nellie had heard the entire conversation.

"Now stay away from my kids." Finn muttered.

The amn then stormed back up to his room, probably to go back to sleep. As he ascended up the stairs, he brushed past Harmony, surprising the young teen. By the time Harmony realized that it _had_ been her father, he was already in his room.

The brunette was extremely tempted to confront him about the bottle he smashed near their door, and the rumours of him walking around drunk and becoming violent, but she felt that school currently took priority.

"Did you see Finn?" Harmony quietly asked Quinn with a frown.

Quinn simply nodded, her emotional mask firmly in place hide the hurt that she was feeling. The two sat in silence for about a minute, both of them thinking about the dopey Hudson boy. When Nellie finally walked in, both of them almost robotically stood up and walked towards Quinn's car.

Throughout the car ride to their school, Harmony noticed that Nellie seemed to want to say something; she also noticed that there was a lot of tension in the air around Quinn.

"Nellie?" Harmony eventually whispered. "Are you alright?"

Nellie nodded in response, but Harmony still couldn't shake the feeling that her younger sister was hiding something. The young brunette could tell that her older sister was suspicious, but she didn't want to share what she had heard, as she didn't know all the facts.

"What did he mean by 'try to steal Rachel'?" The young brunette internally mused. "Did Quinn like my Mum?"

As Nellie realized that Harmony was staring at her again, she quickly stopped thinking about that, pushing it to the back of her mind and weakly smiling at her older sister.

By the time the three arrived at the girls' school, they were already an hour and a half late. Both of the teens were glad that Quinn did what she claimed she would, and got them out of the detention that they were sure to receive. For Nellie, the day dragged on extremely slowly, as her mind constantly drifted back to the strange conversation between her dad and Quinn. The girl was definitely grateful as the day eventually came to an end.

"Ready to go, Nell?" Harmony murmured as she walked up to her younger sister, quickly waving at Damian.

Nellie mumbled a goodbye to her friend, Abraham, before leaving with her sister. The girl could tell that her older sister was still curious as to her absentmindedness in the car that morning; as the two got on the bus to head home, the older brunette began to softy speak to Nellie,

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Harmony asked her younger sister. "I'll always be there for you."

'Great, she probably thinks that I'm being bullied or something' Nellie sighed to herself, before mumbling, "I know that, Harmy." Harmony nodded at her sister, knowing that the younger girl would say no more.

Once the bus had pulled up at their stop, the two sisters got out and walked home, both too tired to talk. Harmony had expected Finn to actually be home for once, but as the siblings walked into the house, she noticed that it was completely silent.

"Finn?" Harmony yelled, cupping her ear as she waited for a response. After putting down her school bag, she slowly walked up the stairs to check her parents' room, but Finn, who was now the sole inhabitant of the room, was nowhere to be seen. The brunette let out a sigh of frustration as she walked back downstairs to grab her bag.

At seven-thirty, the time in which Quinn normally arrived, Harmony was sitting in the lounge. The brunette was watching one of her mother's favourite movies in order to pass the time until the blonde finally got there. The girl began to worry as eight o'clock passed, and by nine she realized that Quinn wasn't coming.

"She's not coming, is she?" Nellie asked as Harmony walked into her room, mobile in hand. Harmony wasn't sure what to say to her sister. _No? Maybe? I don't think so? Not tonight?_ Harmony noted that Nellie, however, did not seem _that _surprised.

"Maybe she knows something about this that I don't." Harmony mused. "Maybe this relates to her mysterious secret?" She knew that Nellie wasn't going to tell her the private information though, and she didn't want to pressure her younger sister into revealing it.

Finally Harmony simply mumbled, "I'm ordering pizza for dinner, what would you like?"

Nellie simply told Harmony that she'd be fine with a plain cheese pizza. The older brunette sensed that her sister was missing Quinn too; she wished that she knew why the blonde suddenly decided not to come. Both girls simply hoped that Quinn would be back again tomorrow, but Nellie doubted that she would.


	11. Chapter 11

"Quinn didn't come _again_." Harmony sighed, a grimace finding its way onto her face. It had been two days since Quinn had 'mysteriously' stopped coming. Harmony felt confused and frustrated as well as slightly hurt at the blonde's sudden absence.

"We could visit her at work?" Nellie wanted to confront Quinn about what she had heard. She knew that it was none of her business, but she felt that she _needed_ to know.

"Sounds good, Nell.' Harmony murmured, her eyes beginning to shine in anticipation. "How's afterschool tomorrow?"

Nellie knowingly smiled at her older sister, just like Rachel, Harmony got impatient when she wanted something. Although this quality didn't shine through as much as it had with their Mum, it was still quite visible when the older Berry sister was passionate about something. Nellie could tell that Harmony was upset about Quinn's abandonment. Ever since the beautiful blonde had left them alone, Harmony had begun to get more frustrated at everyone, expect Damian and Nellie herself.

"Great, Harmy," Nellie replied, smiling over the fact that her sister was regaining her usual enthusiasm.

* * *

Nellie was jerked from her sleepy state as the final bell of the day rung, dismissing the drowsy class. By the time the introverted girl reached her locker, Harmony was already standing there, backpack in hand and smile on face. Nellie could feel that her sister was about to explode with excitement.

"Come on Nellie, let's go see Quinn!" Harmony shouted, causing a few people in the crowded hallway to turn and angrily glare. Harmony, however, just ignored them, as her enthusiasm fuelled her endless energy. Nellie laughed at her older sister, trying to calm the girl, but failing as Harmony began to hum an upbeat song under her breathe.

After what felt like an eternity to Harmony, Nellie had finished packing her schoolbag. The brunette excitedly dragged her younger sister outside, and into the impatiently waiting taxi. Throughout the cab ride, Nellie felt increasingly nervous. She thought she knew a lot about Rachel's school life, but the conversation she had overheard had her doubting that.

"Don't be silly, Nellie." The girl internally scolded herself. "Rachel told you everything, even the fact that she had ice beverages thrown at her, surely she wouldn't lie about her peers? She told me that Quinn was a very close friend of hers, but that they had lost contact. Could that be false?"

Nellie looked over at her carefree sister, who hadn't heard what Finn had accused Quinn of.

"What did Rachel tell you about Quinn before the accident?" Nellie asked her older sister. Harmony seemed to ponder over this question for a moment before answering,

"They were best friends in high school, but they lost contact after Finn married our wonderful mother." The girl then whispered, "I wish Rachel was here. Why did that crash _have_ to happen to her?"

Nellie nodded at her sister, realizing that the girl, who she thought had mostly gotten over their mother's death, was still quite vulnerable and bitter about it. Suddenly, Nellie realized that Harmony wanted to be around Quinn so badly because she had come to see her as a mother-type figure. Nellie just hoped that Quinn wouldn't walk out on them like Finn had been doing, or try to brush them off and ignore them.

"That'll be thirty-five dollars," the taxi driver gruffly muttered as he pulled up in front of a tall building which Harmony recognized as Quinn's workplace.

The older brunette swiftly passed the money to the irritated man, then left the small car in favour of the parking lot. Once the cab had driven off, Nellie felt Harmony grab her hand and pull her towards the tall building.

As Harmony burst through the fancy double doors and walked into the tall building, a receptionist looked at them. The woman was quite short with dark blonde hair in a pixie cut. One of this lady's eyebrows had risen slightly as if to say 'what are these annoying brats doing here?' Other than that slight eyebrow raise, she looked quite bored.

"Do you have an appointment?" The blonde lady asked, her voice filled with scepticism.

"No, Ma'am," Harmony replied, trying to act as professional as possible by using her formal tone of voice, and standing up straight. "We are close friends of Miss Fabray. We would appreciate it if we could go see her."

The lady once again looked sceptical; her attitude was beginning to frustrate Nellie, but she didn't say anything; she knew that this lady wanted to pretend that she was better than them, and that she wouldn't let them see Quinn if she commented.

"I'll ask Miss Fabray." The lady sarcastically sighed, then, with a sensible, not bored-out-of-her-mind tone of voice, she reluctantly spoke into a little microphone, "Miss Fabray, two _teenagers _are here to see you. They claim that they know you. What do you want me to do with them?"

Nellie could tell that this lady's uptight, sarcastic and fake personality was frustrating her older sister. The brunette knew her sister well, and when the older girl didn't like someone, she tended to twitch her pinkie ever so slightly on her right hand. Harmony used to twitch it every time she had to speak with Finn, however it had stopped over time, as the older brunette got used to their continuous disagreements.

"Two teenagers, Grace?" Nellie heard Quinn say over the communication device. "Nellie? Harmony?"

"Nellie? Harmony" The receptionist, who Quinn had called Grace, repeated to them, her eyebrows lowering as her look of scepticism faded slightly.

"That's us!" Harmony innocently replied, hiding the fact that she just wanted to go see Quinn and forget that she'd ever spoken to the dark-blonde haired woman.

"Yes, Nellie and Harmony are here. Do you want me to send them to your office?"

For a while there was silence over the communication device. Grace even poked the microphone a few times to make sure that it was still working. Nellie could tell that the silence on Quinn's end was upsetting Harmony; the young brunette felt obliged to tell her sister that Quinn didn't want to see them because Finn had told her to stay away, but she felt that it wasn't the right time. Harmony hated Finn a lot already, plus Nellie didn't want this to become the next big gossip.

"Alright, send them up." Quinn finally murmured, although she hesitated after saying "alright". Nellie hoped that Harmony wouldn't take Quinn's doubtful reply badly; the older brunette looked pretty hurt, although it was carefully shielded by a cheerful smile.

The receptionist quickly got up from her chair and unlocked the large door which lead into the main office area.

"Have a nice time, girls." Grace over-enthusiastically exclaimed, completely changing her treatment of them now that they had proved that they really were acquaintances her boss.

"I didn't like her," Harmony whispered to her sister once they were out of Grace's hearing range.

"I know," Nellie whispered back, a perceptive smirk on her face.

When the girls approached their destination, they saw Quinn waiting for them outside her office, a genuinely happy smile on her face.

"Quinn!" Harmony excitedly exclaimed, running up to the taller woman and hugging her. "Why did you stop coming over? I've missed you!"

"I've just been busy with work, Harmony," Quinn replied, her smile faltering slightly, but remaining strong none-the-less. Nellie could tell that the blonde felt bad about lying to the older brunette, but she knew that Quinn felt that it was necessary. "Has Finn been home?"

"No, it's just been us two." Harmony replied, a mix of many emotions in her voice. "Will you be coming to see us soon?"

"I'll see if I have time, sweetheart." Quinn replied, a rebellious sparkle suddenly shining in her eyes. Harmony excitedly grinned, all feelings of frustration deteriorating as the older woman agreed to start visiting them again, even if it wasn't every day.

"Can I speak to you alone for a moment, Quinn?" Nellie suddenly blurted out. Harmony gave her younger sister a confused look, but hesitantly walked out of Quinn's large office. Nellie quickly shut the door of the big office as soon as Harmony had walked out; the brunette then stood timidly in front of Quinn.

"'What do you want to talk about, darling?" Quinn asked the younger girl, raising her eyebrow slightly.

'I-I...' Nellie stuttered, unsure of how to begin the discussion. "I heard your conversation with Finn the other day?" It was meant to be a statement, but Nellie felt that it sounded more like a question.

Quinn opened her mouth slightly, as if she was going to say something, but promptly closed it again as she tried to formulate a response in her mind. For a while, there was silence between the two, but Nellie eventually began to speak again.

"Please don't listen to Finn. He doesn't know what he's talking about! Harmony would choose you over him any day and we both really enjoy you coming over and helping us with everything! You're acting how Finn should be. Please don't allow him to make you abandon us. We know that you're _not _tricking us into spilling Rachel's secrets. Please come back!"

Quinn was silent for a while, trying to absorb what Nellie had said. Eventually she murmured, "What about you?"

"What?" Nellie stuttered with confusion.

"Would you choose Finn over me?" Quinn whispered, shutting her eyes.

"He... He's my Dad and I love him, but he hasn't been acting like the Finn that took care of me when I was ten, even though Harmony was the one who usually looked after me, and helped me with homework. However, you've been so supportive towards my sister and myself. So currently, I think I would choose you. You've been here for us, unlike Finn."

Quinn smiled at the young girl, quickly pulling her into a hug.

"I'll always be there for you two." Quinn whispered.

Nellie felt extremely happy bubbling in her stomach. She could tell that Quinn had missed them; it wasn't that big of a surprise that she'd go against Finn's threats in order to fall back into the three girl's 'happy family' routine.

"And Quinn?" Nellie mumbled, after Quinn had gone back to sitting behind her fancy desk. "That person who rejected you... Was it Rachel?"

Quinn hesitated for a while. Nellie felt nervous suddenly; she couldn't help but wonder whether she had she crossed a line/

"Sorry' Nellie stammered out. "Was that too personal? I'm going to-"

"No. You have the right to know. I did love your mother, but she only had eyes for Finn. That was a long time ago though. It doesn't matter anymore."

Nellie was speechless. She hadn't truly believed what Finn had accused Quinn of until this moment. Nellie, who was uncertain of how to respond, just nodded. She knew that it was all in the past now, but she was curious as to what had happened between her mum and Quinn all those years ago.

"Can I come in now?" Harmony questioned as she poked her head around the door.

"Sure," Nellie and Quinn simultaneously stated.

"What did you two need to talk about?" Harmony casually asked, although Nellie could tell that Harmony was internally eying them suspiciously.

"I was just talking to her about... a boy I liked." Nellie lied. She could tell Harmony was still suspicious by the questioning look she was sending Nellie's way, but the brunette knew that her older sister trusted her. She hated betraying her sister's trust, but this was a personal issue for Quinn and she didn't think that the blonde would appreciate her telling anyone.

"Why couldn't I be present for this 'boy talk'?" Harmony questioned with a combination of confusion and hurt in her voice, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'm not sure if you like him or hate him. I was unsure if you'd approve." Nellie mumbled.

"It's not my Ex is it?" Harmony rapidly asked, her eyebrows rising in alarm.

"No, Of course not! You were kind of friends with him when we were younger, but you drifted apart in a way." Nellie was actually telling the truth, she did like a boy on the mathletes team called Michael.

Harmony, Michael and Blake had been best friends when they were all six, however as the three grew older, Michael and Blake stopped hanging out with her as apparently she had 'girl germs'. However, Blake and Michael were still strong friends to this day.

"Is this person a jock?" Harmony spat, a clear bitterness in her voice.

"No! Harmy! Let's stop talking about this now!" Nellie exclaimed, blushing slightly.

"How about I take you girls home now?" Quinn suddenly suggested. Nellie could tell that the woman was glad that she hadn't revealed anything to Harmony. "We can make dinner and catch up?"

"Great!" Harmony exclaimed, "but are you sure that you can just leave work for us?"

"They can last a few hours without me," Quinn stated, the rebellious spark returning to her eyes. "It's been a slow day anyway."

Harmony nodded, blinking a few times before exclaiming, "Also, I heard that the Dancer, Brittany Peirce was getting married to her girlfriend. Is that true?"

"Yeah, the wedding is planned for next month." Quinn excitedly exclaimed, grabbing one of her company's magazines from her desk and showing Harmony the front cover. Nellie barely stopped herself from laughing as the two older girls began to fangirl.

"Come on you two," Nellie joked. "You can gossip about the Queen of the dance floor on the way home."

"Fine." Harmony pouted, although Nellie knew that she was just joking around. Leisurely the three walked towards Quinn's car, ready to head back to Rachel's house and spend some time catching up with each other.


	12. Chapter 12

Harmony was sitting on the couch, engrossed in a marvellous book. Her eyes were franticly darting back and forth as she rapidly read. The only other movement she made was her fingers turning the pages as she neared the end of the novel.

She had just begun the last chapter when the doorbell rang. The brunette, who was concentrating deeply on the words of the book, didn't even hear it; however, the second time that the doorbell was pressed, her attention was snapped away from the hardcover book.

"That's probably Quinn. She must have forgotten that key we gave her!" Harmony murmured to herself, grumbling slightly at what bad timing it was; she was so close to finishing the story.

"Qui-" Harmony began to exclaim as she opened the door, a look of mock anger on her face, however, she quickly realised that it was not Quinn, nor Finn, nor anyone that she knew. Her mouth quickly morphed into a straight line and she felt her eyebrows rise; nervousness and stress filled her body.

"Hello, Sir?" Harmony stated, quickly forgetting about her book. She knew that what she said sounded more like a question than a greeting, but the singer was curious as to what this mysterious man was doing outside of the Berry household.

"May I come in, Miss Berry?" He asked, as he scratched his grey moustache, "I'm representing CPS, the Child Protective Services. I need to have a little talk with Miss Nellie Berry and yourself."

"S-s-sure," Harmony stuttered, her palms beginning to sweat as butterflies began flittering in her stomach. "Straight this way."

Harmony cautiously led the man into the kitchen and pulled out a chair for him to sit on; she then wordlessly rushed out of the room in order to get her sister.

"Nellie?" Harmony whispered as she knocked on the younger girl's door. She waited for a moment, and was about to knock again, when her younger sister opened the door. Worry instantly graced Nellies features; the younger girl felt herself gently bite her lip, before hesitantly asking,

"Harmony, are you alright?" Nellie had noticed her sisters slightly paler than usual skin tone and as the younger girl looked into her sister's eyes she saw nervousness.

"Someone from Child Protective Services is here! What if he wants to separate us? We'd never see each other again; we'd never see Quinn again, or any of our friends!" Nellie softly pulled her distressed sister into a hug. Harmony had always been the more emotional of the two, there were times, like now, which Nellie thought that her older sister could be over-emotional.

"Harmony, that won't happen, you won't let it!" Harmony let out a little laugh at her sisters statement and nodded in confirmation, but Nellie could still tell that her older sister was beyond frantic as the two began heading back down stairs. Nellie continuously saw Harmony rubbing the back of her neck as they walked closer and closer towards the kitchen.

As the two girls walked in, they noticed that the mysterious guy was glancing at his watch. They both hurried to sit down on the small, oval kitchen table. For a moment the three of them just sat in silence; the two girls were timidly glancing at the mysterious man then back towards each other. The grey haired man just sat there with a raised left eyebrow; it almost felt like he was observing their behaviour.

"Hello, Miss Harmony and Nellie Berry," he started, staring them in the eyes, "My name is Mr Andards"

"Hello, Mr Andards, am I allowed to ask why you are here?" Nellie mumbled, playing the naïve younger sibling.

"Girls, shall you tell the truth to me, even if you think that it shall reflect badly on your family?"

"Yes," Nellie immediately answered, lightly kicking her hesitant older sister under the table.

"Yeah?" Harmony begrudgingly muttered, glaring at her sister for a brief moment. The man once again raised his left eyebrow, although it was slightly higher this time. Both girls saw him shaking his head ever so slightly, although he acted as if he hadn't.

"We've had claims that your father, Mr Berry, now Mr Hudson, has been getting drunk and violent. We have seen video evidence of him smashing bottles in the middle of the street as well as becoming violent towards civilians who have approached him."

Nellie and Harmony were unsure of how they should react to this; both girls turned to one another and stared, having a silence conversation with one another. Once the girls broke their eye contact and turned back, Mr Andards realised that they weren't going to say anything.

"We are concerned that he is acting this way towards you girls too," He gruffly exclaimed, once again scratching his moustache.

Nellie knew how much Harmony hated talking about her personal life with complete strangers, so the younger sibling acknowledged that she'd probably have to do most of the talking. She knew that Harmony's protective instinct would eventually set in, and she'd relieve Nellie of the Question-answering duty, however, Nellie didn't know how long that would take.

Despite the fact that they had both promised to tell the truth, Nellie's first instinct was to deny everything. She supposed that that was due to the fact that, every time she was bombarded by the paparazzi while she wasn't with Harmony, all she did was deny rumours about her family. It had now developed into a habit of sorts.

"We haven't actually been hurt," Nellie blurted out. "He did smash a bottle once though."

The man nodded, suddenly pulling a notepad out of nowhere, and scribbling down something.

"Does Finn leave the house a lot? Does he come back every night?"

Nellie glanced at Harmony, seeing that her sister had suddenly sat up straight. She could tell that Harmony was going to answer the question; that she didn't want Nellie to have to do all the talking to Mr Andards. The older girl's protectiveness began to show as she took the question answering pressure off Nellie.

"He's rarely around. Sometimes he doesn't come home for days and when he is home, he's either drunk or completely hung over."

Mr Andards once again began writing, this time quite vigorously. Harmony found herself playing with the hem of her knee-length white dress as she waited for the man to finish. The rustling of keys was suddenly heard from the direction of the front door.

"Let me go see who that is!" Harmony immediately squeaked, and before Mr Andards had time to protest, she had leaped out of the kitchen and to the front door. As she got there, the door swung open, revealing Quinn.

"Quinn!" Harmony exclaimed.

"Hey Darl, is everything okay?" Quinn noticed that Harmony seemed to be tenser than usual. "Finn's not here is he," Quinn suddenly whispered, her eyebrows scrunching slightly.

"No! It's some Child Protector! Come!" Harmony grabbed the blonde by the wrist and the two rushed to the kitchen, though Quinn noticed that Harmony's pace slowed just as they entered the white-walled room.

"Hello?" Quinn raised her left eyebrow as she stared at Mr Andards. Nellie almost commented on how similar her facial expression was to the one that Mr Andards held a few minutes ago, but she held her tongue. "Who are you?"

"Mr Andards." The man held out his hand. Quinn accepted the offer he was making and stiffly shook it. Her eyebrow lowered ever so slightly, but a look of scepticism still graced her features. "I'm here to speak to the children about a family issue. I would appreciate if you would temporarily leave the room."

"Quinn should stay." Harmony instantly interrupted. "She's been taking care of us! She'd surely have some information you need?"

The man looked hesitant, but waved his hand in the direction of the remaining empty seat. Quinn slowly lowered herself into the chair, then signalled for Mr Andards to continue speaking.

"My next question was just answered by you, Miss Harmony, but do you have anything else to add?"

Harmony shook her head, eager to get this worrisome meeting over with. As Mr Andards began vigorously rubbing his forehead, all of the girls could tell that he didn't have good news.

"Based on what we have seen of your fathers' behaviour, we want to take you away from this house. You need someone to consistently take care of you, instead of just what Miss Fabray's been doing. We don't want you two to be at risk."

"I want to take them in," Quinn exclaimed without hesitation. "They can move in with me!"

Mr Andards quickly grabbed his phone and began silently looking up something, a frown deepening on his face.


	13. Chapter 13

The three girls stared at Mr Andards deeply as he read whatever was written on his phone; his eyebrows rose slightly as his eyes darted back and forth. After what seemed like an eternity, he put his phone into his pocket and stared directly into Quinn's eyes; although he turned away when he realised that her gaze wasn't going to drop.

'It's possible,' he murmured, 'although it's really up to the kids. Miss Harmony?'

Harmony felt nervous as the old man's gaze turned to her. She allowed herself to take a deep breath before mustering the most serious expression she could onto her face; her mouth was pressed into a straight line and her shoulders were tensed slightly. She forced herself to stare at this intimidating man directly in the eyes, then exclaimed,

'I want to live with Quinn.'

At her words, Mr Anders let out a barely audible grunt, although Harmony heard him. The brunette could tell that the grey-haired man wasn't happy with her decision; she knew that he wanted publicity for the CPS, and that the two of them finding a good home with Quinn would be too simple. Harmony understood that the child protective services was beneficial to a lot of people, however she didn't want her life exploited for its free advertising.

'Miss Nellie?' Mr Andards sighed.

It was now Nellie's turn to feel nervous, she felt the palms of her hands begin to sweat as she found something interesting on the floor to look at. She felt herself begin to fiddle with her fingers as she thought about this life-altering choice. The younger sibling glanced over at her sister, who was twitching her pinkie in the 'I hate this person' way.

'Don't let Miss Harmony Berry decide this for you!' She heard Mr Andards bark. Instantly her gaze snapped back towards the ground. She wanted to say Quinn, but the soul-piercing gaze coming from Mr Andards faded blue eyes made her nervous to give her opinion. However, Nellie did know that she had to say what she wanted, even if it was inconvenient for the man sitting next to her on the table.

'Q-Quinn.' Nellie managed to stutter out, her gaze still on the floor.

'It will be a complicated process.' Mr Andards warned, rubbing his moustache slightly as a grimace settled on his face. The three girls simply nodded in response. 'Miss Nellie and Harmony Berry, why don't you go to your rooms so Miss Fabray and I can have a little chat.'

Both girls nodded and jumped out of their chairs, eager to leave the presence of the disconcerted man. They quickly rushed upstairs, both heading into Nellie's room in order to speak in private.

'What's happening?' Harmony sighed, running her hand through her thick hair. 'And why is all this happening to us? We lost our Mum, and now we're losing our house!'

Nellie nodded, agreeing with her sister's frustrations.

'Surely it'll all get better?' Nellie questioned, trying to be optimistic.

Harmony once again sighed, 'I just hope that Mr Andards allows us to go with Quinn. I don't want to be separated from you, and Quinn's been really nice and supportive towards us!'

Silently Nellie agreed with her sister, allowing a sigh to escape her lips, entering the gloomy environment that the two had created.

* * *

'You are aware that in order to be the foster parent of these kids you'll have to go through a four to six week process. We need to make sure you have a stable and consistent job in order to take care of these two. I know you're head of that magazine,' Mr Andards pointed at a stray magazine which was lying in on the table. Quinn realised that she had brought it over to this house the other day. 'It is still necessary for the government officials to check out your living conditions and job in order to be a legal guardian for these children.'

'I've taken care of a foster child before.' Quinn bluntly stated, causing Mr Andards eyebrows to crease slightly. 'I took care of a fifteen year-old for a few months, however, his parent recovered from her alcohol addiction and wanted him back. The boy obviously missed his Mum when he lived with me, and he wanted to go back to her, so I allowed him. I have already passed all necessary requirements to care for these bright teenagers.'

'Did you really? What made you decide to become a foster parent?' Mr Andards asked with genuine curiosity.

Quinn let out a deep sigh as she opened her mouth to respond, 'I gave birth to a beautiful little girl when I was in high school. However, I wasn't ready for children, so I gave her up for adoption. One day I begun to feel that something was missing from my life, and I realised that I needed a child to fill that gap.'

Quinn felt a defensive glare slip onto her face, as she hadn't ever told anyone that story. Mr Andards met that glare with a raise of his left eyebrow. Quinn thought that she saw some understanding and respect in his eyes; however, he quickly blinked a few times and allowed a more neutral expression to grace his face.

'Let me make a phone call to confirm that you have indeed met the foster carer requirements,' he challenged, half-expecting Quinn to murmur that she had lied.

After a brief pause, in which Quinn refused to acknowledge that the old man doubted her word, he picked up his phone and pressed it to his ear. The man glanced at Quinn for a second, then muttered something along the lines of 'I'm going to go to the other room.' He then promptly stood up and made his way to the lounge, leaving Quinn alone in the kitchen.

'Fabray.' She heard the man loudly whispered from the other room. Quinn grimaced slightly at this man's lack of trust, however she knew that he was only doing his job; that many people had probably lied to him before.

Quinn allowed herself to take a few calming breaths, desperately hoping that her interaction with Mr Andards would be positive once he entered the room again. Quinn felt that she and the girls had formed a really tight relationship in the time she had been caring for them. The blonde also knew that Rachel would definitely want her to care for the two girls due to Finn's alcoholic condition.

The woman knew that most would expect her to hate these two teens, due to the fact that their father was the one who Rachel rejected her for, however, she only saw the woman she loved when she looked at them. Quinn couldn't help but think that Harmony looked like a combination of herself and Rachel; while Nellie was one of the sweetest teens she had ever met. Quinn also knew that they had wondrous talent in music, just like their Mum.

'Miss Fabray?' She heard someone question, snapping her from her thoughts. 'It is possible for you to be a foster parent for both these children. Are you sure that you want to?'

'Yes.' Quinn immediately snapped, allowing a genuine smile to grace her face.

'Let me call down the kids,' he murmured. Then shouted, 'Miss Harmony Berry? Miss Nellie Berry?'

Instantly the two adults heard footsteps from the direction of the stairs; they were quite loud and heavy as the kids were obviously stomping downstairs in their haste. The two adults soon saw the two girls' faces peering out from the edge of the doorway.

'What's going to happen to us?' Harmony whispered. Quinn saw tears beginning to form in the girl's eyes.

'Everything is fine,' Quinn whispered, soothing the scared teen. 'You two are coming to live with me.' Quinn saw the two girl's share a look of relief as they glanced at each other.

'Both of us?' Harmony questioned, a look of hope gracing her face.

'Both of you.' Quinn confirmed, smiling at the older girl. 'Should they go pack their clothes and belongings?'

'Yes, Miss.' Mr Andards exclaimed, 'Quinn has to sign some documents while you pack, then you may go with her.'

Mr Andards then reluctantly grabbed some documents and a pen from his bag and half-heartedly placed them in front of Quinn. The blonde saw Harmony roll her eyes at this; she could tell that the older Berry girl was sick of this grey-haired man's un-enthusiasm towards them.

'Go and start pack, Harmy.' Quinn warned, although it wasn't in a serious tone as Quinn was barely holding back a humour-filled smirk. 'You too Nellie.'

The two girls quickly scurried of, eager to leave Mr Andards presence once again. Mr Andards then pulled a pen from his pocket and held it out for Quinn.

'Remember that this is permanent. You can't just abandon them one day, when you're sick of them.'

'They're people, not objects! I'm going to just throw them away.' Quinn snapped, snatching the pen from the man. Promptly, she proceeded to read over the document in front of her; she then signed the piece of paper.

'It's done.' Mr Andards murmured. 'I have to go give these to someone higher up. Someone shall be coming to check on you and the girl sometime in the next few weeks.

Quinn nodded, standing up as Mr Andards left the kitchen. She then went to help the two Berry siblings finish packing and move their bags to her car.

* * *

Finn sighed as he stood outside of his and Rachel's house, the cool breeze licking at his skin. Puck had slapped some sense into him, both literally and mentally. He couldn't help but feel stupid as to what he did in public. He knew that Rachel wouldn't have wanted him to obsessively drink nor leave the kids by themselves for a long period of time.

Finn's eyebrow rose slightly as he realised that none of the lights of the house were on, despite the fact that it was only nine pm. He shuddered slightly as he took in the eerie environment; it was close to pitch black where he was standing. Quickly he looked over to the neighbour's house, confirming that there hadn't been a power out or something along those lines; however all their lights appeared to be working fine.

Cautiously he knocked on the door, trying to determine whether anyone was home. After a minute of waiting for any sound to be made inside the house, he grabbed his key and unlocked the door. He shoved it open, doing his best ignore the large creaking sound that it made. He then entered the house, quickly finding the light switch and flicking the lights on.

Immediately light illuminated the room, causing Finn to blink as his eyes attempted to adjust to the blinding light. Once his vision had cleared he looked around the entrance, then made his way into the lounge. Everything looked the same, other than the fact that someone had moved the sofa from one side of the room to another.

'Nellie?' He shouted, knowing that she would be a lot more eager to see him than his oldest child. 'Are you home?' He hesitated for a second before yelling, 'Harmony?'

The impatient man then decided to search the house, as he was sick of waiting for a non-existent response; gradually he made his way into the kitchen. Straight away he noticed a letter on the table addressed to him. Unhurriedly, he picked up the white envelope and ran his fingers over the closed seal. Hesitantly he ripped it open and begun reading its contents. Immediately his eyes caught sight of a particular line.

'You have been deemed an unfit parent.' Is what that line read. Anger immediately flared up inside him, causing him to angrily snort.

'How dare they deem me an unfit parent?' He screeched. 'I just drunk a little too much for a few weeks.' Finn stomped into the lounge and roughly punched the couch, then collapsing onto it.

'It's unfair.' Finn exclaimed, feeling sorry for himself. 'First my talented and wonderful wife, Rachel leaves me and now the kids!' He refused to acknowledge that he had brought this on himself due to his violent alcoholic state. Instead he got up and stormed out of the house, going back to Puck's place for some more alcohol and video games.

'I would have been a good father if they were here.' Finn told himself, although deep down he knew that he had no idea how to care for two teenage girls.

* * *

'Are you comfortable?' Quinn murmured to Harmony as the latter rested on the sofa bed. Currently Quinn only had two proper beds in her house and despite Quinn's protests, Harmony had opted to sleep on the sofa bed, leaving Quinn to sleep in her normal bed and Nellie in the guest room. 'We'll go buy a bed for you sometime this week.'

'No need to rush,' Harmony murmured, her eyes drooping, 'I'm perfectly comfortable here.' As Queen went to turn the lights off, she saw Harmony's mouth twitch and then hesitantly open for a few seconds, only to close once again.

'Do you want to ask me something, Harmony?' Quinn gently whispered to the tired girl as she turned off the lights, causing darkness to flood into the room. Quinn noticed how hesitant the girl was, so she gave her a small, encouraging smile.

'Why…' Harmony paused for a second, before urging herself to continue, 'why did you decided to start taking care of us?'

Quinn hesitated for a moment before making up a rather believable reason, 'I felt obliged because of that Max guy semi-kidnapping you.' Harmony stared at Quinn, slowly inhaling and inhaling.

'You loved her didn't you?' Harmony whispered, barely audible. Quinn could tell that the brunette was referring to Rachel.

'Yeah,' Quinn murmured in reply, the same almost silent tone of voice. Harmony slowly nodded, a smile of understanding on her face.

'Everything's going to be okay now.' Harmony whispered as she drifted off to sleep. Quinn felt positivity buzzing round the air as she softly smiled at the elder Berry sibling.

'Everything will be okay.' The blonde quietly confirmed as she pulled the warm blanket over the now-sleeping girl.

* * *

**Fin**

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it; I would love to hear what you thought in a review!


	14. Chapter 14

"Puck! Bro! Let me in." Finn yelled as he thumped on the door of Puck's apartment; almost immediately he heard the sound of heavy footsteps plonking towards the door.

"Finn? Why are you here?" Puck grumbled as the door was flung open. "I thought I told you to man up and be there for your kids?"

"You did." Finn muttered. "They weren't home as I was deemed an unfit parent. How ridiculous!"

"How did Quinn believe you'd be a better parent than me?" Puck muttered under his breath before exclaiming, "I did hear rumours that you smashed bottles in the street, man"

"I was drunk!" Finn retorted, believing that that was a valid excuse; a frown made its way onto his face. "I'm ready to be a good father now, anyway."

"Why are you here then." Puck asked, rubbing his temples gently.

"Video games and beer?" Finn exclaimed, glaring at his High School friend.

Puck shook his head as he let out a sigh. "You can't just turn to alcohol for everything, especially if you want to get your children back." Puck stared Finn in the eye, waiting for confirmation.

"Of course I want to get them back!" Finn snapped, rolling his eyes. "They're the only things that remind me of Rachel." Finn grunted as he mentioned his dead wife, blinking away his forming tears.

"First of all, refer to them as people," Puck began, attempting to help his friend out, "secondly, you have to talk to them. Show them that you're responsible; that you've changed."

Finn, nodded at his friend with a grimace on his face. "I don't think that'll work, you know how much Harmony hates me!"

Puck's eyebrows scrunched up as he briefly recalled the many times that Finn had complained about his oldest daughter. "Try talking to Nellie then, what does she think of you?"

"I'm not entirely sure; she and Harmony are _always _together, it's like they're glued at the hip or something."

Puck shrugged, "do you fight with Nellie?"

"Nellie never fights with anyone." Finn replied, "all she does is play dumb sports like volleyball."

Puck shook his head at this, resisting the urge to facepalm. "If you want your two girls back you _can't _have an attitude like that, bro."

Finn hesitated for a while before reluctantly nodding. "Alright."

Puck resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man; the Jewish boy knew that Finn probably wouldn't get the teens back with his current attitude.

"You have to be caring towards them, interested in their lives and all." Puck exclaimed, trying to get a response out of Finn.

"I will be!" The man exclaimed through gritted teeth. "They're the only _people _who remind me of Rachel."

Puck rose one of his eyebrows slightly; the fact that he had called them people this time gave him hope. "You can start by calling Nellie right now." Puck quickly slipped his mobile out of his pocket and threw it at Finn.

"Nellie doesn't have a phone," Finn immediately sighed, tossing the phone back at puck. "Why are you being so soft tonight, man?"

Puck once again shrugged. "I may not have shown it, but it killed me to lose Beth, especially a second time after Shelby brought her to Lima. I don't want you to go through the same thing." Puck stayed silent for a moment before mumbling, "why doesn't Nellie have a phone? She's nearly fifteen now!"

It was then Finns turn to shrug. "She has a laptop."

Puck sighed, "when are you next going to see her? Sorry to bring this up, bro, but will it be at Rachel's burial?"

At the mention of his wife's funeral, Finn deeply inhaled, trying to control his raging sadness and bitterness. "Yes." He stated through gritted teeth.

"You _have _to show her that you're ready to be the responsible parent; from what I can tell, Harmony will follow Nellie like a little duckling once you have her on your side."

Finn nodded, knowing that Puck was right; wherever Nellie went, Harmony wouldn't be too far behind.

"Thanks, man." Finn stated, actually grateful for the advice that Puck had given him. "I'll head home them."

"No drinking," Puck warned him. Finn nodded, not even hesitating, before walking away from Puck's apartment; determined to get his and Rachel's children back.

* * *

"Would you like to get a double bed, or a single one?" Quinn questioned as they looked around the shop that they were in. "A double would've barely fit in the room, while a single would leave a lot more space." Harmony rubbed her chin in thought as she spun around, briefly glancing at everything in the shop.

"I always had a single bed at my old house," Harmony mumbled, "so I don't mind having one again! What do you think Nellie?"

The younger brunette, who had previously been silent, mumbled, "get whatever you like, Harmony."

The older girl nodded, quickly walking over to the nearest bed and sitting on it; the girl let out a giggle. "The sofa wasn't that bad anyway,"

Quinn smiled at the girl as she rolled her eyes. The blonde and younger brunette followed Harmony around in silence as the girl lay on just about every bed.

"Come on, Harmony," Nellie exclaimed, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"I have come to a decision," Harmony exclaimed, melodramatically flicking her wrists. "I really liked the second one I tried."

Quinn and Nellie immediately headed over to that bed; both eager to leave the furniture store. Harmony quickly ran after them, once again testing out the almost blindingly white mattress before giving Quinn a thumbs up.

The blonde sighed in relief, waving over an employee before Harmony had the chance to change her mind.

"We'd like to buy this mattress and bed-frame," Quinn exclaimed to him, offering him a charming smile.

"Straight away, Miss Fabray." Quinn's eyes widened as he said this; she hadn't expected anyone to recognize her. As the the man walked away, Harmony jokingly nudged Quinn.

"And you thought that being head of a magazine wouldn't get you recognized." The brunette exclaimed.

Quinn sighed at Harmony's naivety. "Harmony, that probably means that the media has somehow found out about me becoming your foster parent."

The older brunette's eyes widened as she realized that the woman was probably correct. The girl gently bit her lip as the shop employee returned.

"You are aware that it costs an extra thirty dollars if you want us to drive it to your house?" The boy asked, fiddling with his fingers.

"Yes, I want it delivered." Quinn immediately replied, looking away from the boy as she realized that she was making him nervous.

The boy speedily pressed a few buttons on the credit card terminal, before holding it out for Quinn. The blonde quickly grabbed her credit card an inserted it; entering her pin then pressing confirm.

"And you've got a bed!" Quinn enthusiastically exclaimed, trying to break the slightly gloomy tension in the air.

"Yeah," Harmony exclaimed, a half-hearted smile on her face.

"Please write your address here," the shop employee squeaked, holding out a pen and a notepad. The blonde slowly wrote out her address, making sure that her handwriting was legible; she didn't want harmony to sleep on the couch for another night. "We'll have it delivered within the next two hours."

"Thank you," Quinn absentmindedly mumbled, waving her arm in the direction of the exit as she began to walk. Instantly Harmony and Nellie followed her; both girls hoping that no one would take photos of them on the way home.

As the three got into Quinn's large white car, Harmony in the passenger seat and Nellie in the back seat, the blonde cleared her throat. As the woman began to drive she bit her lip, obviously nervous about something.

"I have to tell you girls something important," Quinn suddenly began, inhaling deeply. "Your mothers funeral is coming up."

Harmony felt herself tear up at this; she thought she had moved past the hopelessly crying over everything phase, however she was obviously wrong. The girl couldn't help but grimace as she tried to blink them away. Quickly, the older girl turned to her sister, knowing that she'd probably need comfort.

Nellie was sitting in the back seat, her mouth pressed into a straight line. Harmony weakly offered her sister a watery smile; the younger girl did not return it. Harmony wasn't offended or anything, she knew that her younger sister wasn't as emotional as herself.

"Finn shall be attending," Quinn continued, grimacing slightly as she turned the car around a corner. "I don't believe that he'll become violent, but a body guard has been hired just in case."

"We get our own body guard?" Nellie questioned, attempting to find some positivity in the grave situation of her mothers funeral.

Quinn nodded, glad that Nellie wasn't being pessimistic. The three continued the drive in silence, the only interruptions being the occasional sniffle from Harmony's direction.

Soon they arrived back at Quinn's house, the blonde waiting outside for Harmony's bed as the brunette's headed inside; all three of them emotionally preparing themselves for the funeral in three days time.

* * *

Hi there! I know that I finished this story, but (as some of you commented) it felt a bit incomplete, so I decided to continue it. Reviews are love!


	15. Chapter 15

"Harmony, wake up." Quinn whispered into the teenager's ear. The blonde grimaced slightly as the young girl refused to move.

"I don't want to!" The brunette exclaimed, sounding like a young child on the first day if school; her eyebrows scrunched up, as she pressed her eyes tightly shut.

"You have to, sweetheart," the older woman sighed, her shoulder's drooping. "It's your Mum's funeral today."

"That's why I don't want to!" The teenager sadly grumbled, finally fluttering her eyes open. "I don't want to see her pale, lifeless body. I don't think I'm strong enough." Quinn could see tiny tears appearing in the girl's eyes.

"Come on, sweetheart. I know you can get though this! Think of it as a celebration of your mother's life." The blonde exclaimed, trying to sound as positive as she could on this mourn-filled day; gently she ran her hand through her hair as the brunette vigorously shook her head. "You know that neither of us want to see Rachel in that condition, but we_ need_ to go to the funeral."

Quinn felt herself frown as the teen pulled the overly large blanket over her head.

"Come on, Harmony." Quinn took a deep breath, trying to control her rising irritation. "You are getting out of that bed right now. We are not going to be late for the memorial service of your mother." Quinn couldn't help but add 'and_ the woman that I loved.'_ in her head. The blonde knew that Harmony knew of that love, but the blonde was still not used to admitting it out loud.

As Harmony buried her head into the pillow, the older woman allowed her infamous HBIC glare to slip on to her face, sighing slightly.

"You'll disappoint Nellie!" Quinn frantically stated through gritted teeth. She knew that it was a low attempt to get the girl up, but she was getting desperate. The blonde soon saw Harmony silently look up at her, biting her lip gently as she frowned.

"Was I this defiant as a teenager?" Quinn couldn't help but think, grimacing slightly as she remembered that she had been pregnant at Harmony's age.

"Alright." Harmony suddenly offered Quinn a grimace-like smile as she finally got out of bed, quickly opening her closet in order to dress herself in some dark-coloured clothes. Quinn sighed, as she saw the girl's shoulder's drooping. The blonde gently patted her on the back, awkwardly trying to console her.

"Take as long as you need, Sweetheart," Quinn mumbled, trying to calm her slightly agitated voice. "I'll be with Nellie in the kitchen."

Quinn offered the girl a weak smile in which Harmony returned, although Quinn could clearly see that it didn't reach her eyes; she knew it was justified though, she had locked herself in her car and cried when she had found out the only woman she had ever loved had died.

Hesitantly, Quinn walked out of Harmony's bedroom, glancing back briefly before shutting the door and continuing down the hallway, into the kitchen. Sitting there was Nellie, who was already dressed in black clothing. She was wearing quite a simple, yet long and formal-looking black dress; it had extremely short sleeves with a dark flowery pattern on them. In daily life it probably would have be considered plain, but it was extremely appropriate for a funeral, especially one of someone Nellie loved and respected so greatly.

Quinn also noticed a dark purple headband sitting on the table, she blinked vigorously as she presumed that Nellie was wearing it to Rachel's funeral. The blonde scrunched up her eyebrows slightly as she thought back to the time in which Rachel constantly wore headbands; their sophomore year.

The woman couldn't help but shudder slightly; she hated thinking of who she was back then - that she was the stereotypical high-school cheerleader bully. She was glad that Rachel had never told the two teenagers about that period in her life. The blonde had definitely changed and matured since the days of high school. Quinn scrunched her nose as she attempted to push the thoughts of school to the back of her mind; she knew she'd just create endless excuses as to why she bullied if she continued to think about it. She knew that she was confused about her sexuality back then, and the beautiful girls that surrounded her made her more and more flustered; but she knew that that still wasn't a good excuse to lash out at those around her - especially Rachel Berry.

"We have to leave soon," Nellie suddenly mumbled, nervously running her fingers through her hair. "We don't want to be late for this..." the girl hesitated for a moment before whispering, "important event."

Quinn nodded offering Nellie the weak smile she had previously given Harmony; just like her sister, Nellie returned it; although Quinn could see hesitation in the girl's eyes.

"Everything will get better," Quinn mumbled, attempting to reassure the young teen; the blonde couldn't help but curse herself under her breath as she realised how corny and stereotypical the line sounded.

Nellie simply nodded in response, once again attempting to smile at Quinn. The brunette then placed the empty bowl, in which Quinn presumed had previously contained cereal, into the sink, before mumbling something about waiting in the car. Quinn nodded, briefly glancing at the clock in order to make sure that they wouldn't be late, before going to check if Harmony was nearly ready.

* * *

Nellie gently let out a sigh under her breath as she was bear-hugged by yet another relative of whom she had never met. After a quick 'I'm sorry' the old woman retracted her arms and walked away; probably to go and find Harmony in order to give her older sister an equally large hug.

The brunette couldn't help but let out a second sigh as yet another person she barely recognized approached her, muttering the line she had heard hundreds of times that day, 'I'm sorry for your loss," before opening his arms for a hug. Hesitantly, she returned the man's gestures.

Nellie had never been the biggest 'hug person'; especially with people who she didn't really know or trust. Nellie still remembered a time when she was eleven and someone random on the street had come and wrapped his arms around her, excitedly exclaiming, "Are you _the _Rachel Berry's daughter."

Nellie had simply stared at him with wide eyes, speechless, until Harmony had come running over, shooing the fan away. The younger brunette had barely spoken a word for the rest of the day; only returning to her regular speech patterns when Rachel had gotten home from a long day of work and given her a special 'Mum hug'.

"Hey Nellie," a familiar voice boomed through the crowd, causing her to turn her head in an attempt to see who had called her; she couldn't quite make out who it was due to the noise of those who surrounded her. After glancing through the seemingly infinite number of people, and unsuccessfully attempting to find out who had called her name, she shrugged in defeat, deciding to attempt to find Harmony before the speeches about Rachel started.

"Nellie, can I speak to you?" The brunette heard the voice again, although this time it sounded much closer. The girl quickly looked in the direction of the voice, only to see her father pushing his way through the crowd of Rachel's family and friends.

"Finn? Dad?" she questioned as he finally managed to stumble in front of her. Subconsciously she glanced around to find the bodyguard that had been hired to protect her. She took a few calming breaths as she noticed him standing by Harmony.

"I just want to talk to you, Nell," Finn whispered, gently patting her on the shoulder as he attempted to prove that he had no violent intentions. Nellie warily nodded at him as she offered him a grimace-like smile; the memory of him drunkenly smashing a bottle in front of her was still fresh in her mind.

"I promise that I won't become violent again," he mumbled, almost as if he had read her thoughts. "I haven't been drinking recently."

Nellie gently bit her lip, allowing the corners of her mouth to turn upwards at his words. "That's good."

The man nodded gently, before offering her a smile. Nellie briefly saw his eyes shimmer as he opened his mouth to once again speak. "I want you to come back and live with me."


End file.
